


Your Heart is an Empty Room

by Vicarious



Series: Gravity [1]
Category: Incredible Hulk - All Media Types, Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012), The Avengers - All Fandoms, Thor (2011)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Get Together, Hydra, Minor Canonical Character(s), general bruce angst, some darcy angst, wilderness adventures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-07
Updated: 2012-09-28
Packaged: 2017-11-11 15:48:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 38,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/480185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vicarious/pseuds/Vicarious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy and Bruce are sent to Montana to work on a project. However, there's a reason why they had to leave this weekend and go so far from home. Is it protecting someone when you lie to them? Or is it as selfish as it seems? Can a weekend of science absolve this feeling that is eating Darcy away? So many goddamn feels.</p><p>Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Adventure</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_“You’re like my good luck charm.”  
_  
Darcy awoke with a start, gasping for breath. At first, she wasn’t sure where she was, but then the memories of how she got signed onto this project by Coulson slowly returned. She was on an empty flight from JFK to BIL. Darcy didn’t even know what BIL stood for, only that it was in Montana. _Montana_. This whole thing was just a ruse to keep Bruce Banner away from New York for the weekend, but the project was real. They still had to fly out to the middle of freakin’ nowhere to collect the sample of some rare fungi, but collecting a piece of a mushroom was by no means an emergency. There was a reason why it had to be done this week, but Darcy didn’t like it. She guessed she didn’t have to like it, not like SHIELD cared anyways.  
  
“Are you okay?” The only other passenger asked, this man with graying curly hair. Doctor Bruce Banner.  
  
“Totally.” Darcy said almost too quickly as she ran her fingers through her hair to smooth over the bedhead. She wondered how long she had been out for. She glanced over to the man sitting across from her, absorbed in a book on plant life. That was the thing she hated, the fact that he couldn’t even tell he was being manipulated. Just shake a bit of science at him, something that required _him_ and not _the other guy_ and he would take the bait. Darcy didn’t even know why it had to be her to go along with him and play assistant. She knew nothing of biology and she barely even knew Bruce Banner, but she supposed she was an expert at being the assistant.  
  
“I didn’t snore, did I?” She smirked at him and he gave a small chuckle, a small flush moving across his face as he momentarily set the book down in his lap. Darcy struggled to remember her dream. She couldn’t, for the life of her remember, but she knew it must have been pretty shittastic to have left this empty feeling in her chest. The feeling, this sense of emptiness, reminded Darcy of the feeling she got when she first learned of the project. She remembered the feeling of being so resigned to go. She understood.  
  
Banner looked almost embarrassed to even respond to that, a small and nervous smile crossing his features.  
  
“Uh... yeah, actually. Pretty loud. You have a bit of, uh...” He brought his fingers to wipe at the corner of his mouth. Darcy mimicked the actions until she felt her fingers run straight over a glossy slick of drool. She ducked forward and wiped it off with the back of her sleeve, glancing up at Banner to see him duck back down to his reading.  
  
“Oh, infamous sleeping habits.” Darcy muttered as she took a sip from a can of Sprite to clear her throat.  
  
“Are we close to the middle of nowhere?” She asked as she set it back down, grabbing for her phone. Yeah, they were only half an hour out. Darcy hummed with satisfaction at the ability to sleep straight through her flight.   
  
“Don’t they make you turn your cell phone off at the start of the flight?” Banner looked up once more and when she returned the gaze, his retreated to the book.   
  
“That’s what they say. We’re still here, right? Anyways, I’m going to excuse myself before I pee all over the seat during landing turbulence. You’ve already seen me snore and drool, so let’s not make this a trifecta. Scusey.” Darcy jumped up from her seat, tripping over her bag, causing the itinerary to spill out.  
  
Darcy nearly had a heart attack as it did so, scrambling down to scoop everything up as Banner knelt down beside her. Most of it was safety guides for plant and fungi extraction, but there was a single piece of vanilla colored paper that he didn’t need to see. It slipped out right next to her hand and Banner reached for it.  
  
“I got it.” She quickly said, picking up the slip of paper and holding it in her hand as she collected the rest of the papers and pushed them haphazardly into the file. She flinched at the messy disorganization, but she could fix it later. Paper in hand, she expelled a sigh of relief, looking up towards Bruce Banner.  
  
“Thanks. I’m going to uh,” She paused as he blinked slowly. “Pee now. Not here, I mean in the bathroom.” She added. “Okay, this is the part where I get up and walk away and act like I totally didn’t just say that.”  
  
Banner chuckled again, visibly relaxing. His lopsided smile was infectious and she couldn’t help but make a similar face, forgetting that she just announced that she was going to walk away now.  
  
“Okay.” He said after a moment of quiet and that promptly reminded her.  
  
“Yep.” Darcy awkwardly quipped as she stood up and ran down the aisle of the empty flight to shove herself into that horribly tiny bathroom.  
  
Slamming the door shut behind her, she leaned against it and unfolded the piece of paper in her hands. If only Banner had seen it, the results would have been less than pretty. Would it make him fall into a rage or just break his heart? She didn’t know him, so she couldn’t tell, but if it had been her in that situation... she didn’t know. All she knew was that the horrible empty feeling in her chest had returned. She looked down and read the words of the note one last time before crumpling it and flushing it down the toilet, expelling it at 36,000 feet in the air.  
  
 _You are cordially invited to the wedding of Betty Ross.  
Held August the Eighth, eleven in the morning  
in Central Park, New York City, New York_


	2. Chapter 2

After a connecting flight on a freakishly small and rickety plane, followed by an hour drive, they finally arrived. Darcy was the first to hop out and stretch her arms, looking back at Banner slowly climbing out with his book and single suitcase. Billy, a scraggly tall and dark-haired intern from the local state college, shut the SUV off and opened up the hatchback to start unloading the bags, most of which belonged to Darcy. They were miles from Whitecreek, a town that rivaled Puente Antiguo’s population and suddenly it was New Mexico all over again. At least now Darcy could make Billy do coffee and poptart runs. The thought stirred a surge of pride, and Darcy thought there was hope for her yet.  
  
“I’m going to make a phone call. I’ll see you inside, Miss Lewis.” Banner looked over from Darcy to Billy, who was sweating and heaving as he carried the bags to the interior of the cabin. She nodded and watched Banner step away to walk down a slope that led towards a large lake. The property was beautiful and vast, trees sprouting up from the ground all around until they met the lake, which reflected a range of tall mountains.  It was beautiful, but she was pretty sure there wasn’t a Starbucks for a good eighty miles, and coffee was pretty damn beautiful too.  
  
She turned and jogged after Billy who finally finished moving the bags to the living room. The cabin was spacious too, and for once, SHIELD had done something right. The kitchen and living room were characteristically downstairs, with two upstairs bedrooms. After scoping it all out and avoiding the overly creepy stare of the plaqued moose head, she shuffled up next to Billy who was setting up the lab equipment in the corner of the dining room.  
  
“So that’s Doctor Banner. I didn’t think he would be so...” Billy started as he set up a small laptop and connected it to the wall, phone cord and all. Darcy inwardly flinched, _dial-up_.  
  
“Fluffy?” She proposed, watching Banner pace up and down the hill with the phone pressed up to his face. Darcy admired the greying curls on his head and found that they looked _extremely_ handsome. She didn’t know anything about Betty Ross, but she did know that she was sorely missing out. Since first meeting him in her tour of SHIELD months ago, Darcy wanted to touch his hair. It was an accidental thought every time she was sent to deliver notes to him down in his lab.  
  
“Uh, no. I was going to say skittish. For a top SHIELD scientist, he isn’t very confident. He looks like everything is out to get him. I wonder what he’s so paranoid over, you know?” Billy shrugged as he began to pack up.  
  
“Billy, are you done setting up?” Darcy pressed her lips together as she looked back out the window. Banner had disappeared from view and she held her breath for him to come back into view.  
  
“My name isn’t Billy, it’s --”  
  
“Billy.” Darcy corrected, now remembering that he had never actually said his name. Billy just seemed appropriate. Now she knew why. She used to hate a guy named Billy.  “You know what would be awesome? Food. I can hold the fort down here, you can go ahead and grab us dinner. Thanks, Billy. You’re a champ.” She patted his shoulder so hard he jumped, but he stumbled over his own words and then his own feet as he moved on Darcy’s orders.  
  
After shutting good ol’ Billy down, Darcy sauntered outside to check on Banner. She was a little curious as to who he would be calling on the phone, anyways. From what she heard around SHIELD, he rarely went out of the way to talk to anyone. He never showed up to weekend BBQs, awkward holiday parties, after work drinks, nothing.  
  
“Hey Dr. B, I sent Billy to --.” Darcy stopped in her tracks and ducked behind a tree as she heard Banner groan in disgust.  
  
“You knew it was dangerous to put me on the plane, and you still did it. You know I don’t need an assistant, and you put me on the plane with her. No, No, there’s no excuse. You’re being irresponsible.” Darcy peeked to see him pace back and forth, rubbing at his temple with his fingers. She couldn’t imagine speaking to Coulson or Fury like that, but it was pretty obvious that Banner was even more into not taking shit from people than her. She was both shocked and pleasantly surprised, though the “ _hooray Banner’s sort of a dick!_ ” parade would come later, because he was talking about her.  
  
“I’m not out of control, I’m disappointed. What, I can’t be disappointed? -- I am calm. --I should just fly back.” He sighed and dropped his free hand to his side as he turned his back to her and paused.  
  
 _Shit shit shit_ , Darcy thought as she overheard the conversation. Montana, sucky, New York, extremely sucky. She sucked in a breath and stepped out from behind the tree, jogging up behind him.  
  
“Hey B-man, ready to see the cabin?”  
  
Banner paused and turned around, holding the phone away from his face. “One second. Sorry, what?” His shoulders visibly relaxed as he looked towards her, and the apprehension on his face noticeably melted away.  
  
“The cabin? It’s really cool except for the creepy moose head. You wanna go check it out?” Darcy pointed her finger behind her, really hoping he would come along. She wanted to show him the creepy moose head anyways. Banner hesitated again before holding the phone up again.   
  
“I’ll call back tomorrow.” He pocketed the phone and let out a great sigh before lifting those scruffy brows and looking to Darcy. “Creepy moose head?”  
  


*****

 

“I can’t believe we don’t have internet.” Darcy groaned dramatically as she pulled the cartons of take-out from the plastic bag. Billy stood in the corner, hands folded in his lap, waiting like an expectant dog. Banner chucked, helping her unload and sift through the food that the intern had bestowed upon them.

“We have internet, it’s just...” He waved a hand in the air as he shrugged, admitting defeat to Darcy.

“Just like we traveled back in time to 1998? You do realize we have to wait five minutes to send an _email_. I think creepy moose head is the best thing about this whole disaster. Ooh, is this lo mein?” Darcy peeked into the carton and unsnapped a pair of chopsticks.

“I’ve survived through worse. The further I was from people and what I thought I needed, the more I learned about myself and realized what I was capable of. Humans are surprisingly resilient. This is the beef and broccoli. I’ll trade you for the chicken.” Banner said without skipping a beat. They traded cartons of food and cleared the area to eat. All of this felt strangely effortless for someone she had only met recently.

“Hey, this isn’t the first time I’ve been stuck out in the middle of nowhere, chasing around a scientist. That’s actually when I tasered Thor. Sooo, Doctor Banner, I might be surprising you in what I’m capable of.” She slid into her seat and snapped her chopsticks at him with a smirk. Banner laughed as he raised his, before he took the moment to look up at her. The look lingered and he slowly smiled at her.

“You can call me Bruce.”  He offered casually as he looked down to his food and swirled his chopsticks around the noodles.

“Only if you drop the whole _Miss Lewis_ thing. It reminds me of my mom. It’s Darcy, or else you’re going back to being B-man. Or Bizzle. Personally I like B-man, but you’re nothing like the caped crusader and thank god because Christian Bale’s voice gives me nightmares. How do you feel about Bizzle?”

“Not that I dislike Bizzle, but don’t I go back to being Doctor Banner?”

“Nope. Darcy and Bruce, or _nothing_ .”

He chuckled before conceding. “Alright then. Darcy it is.”

“Thank you, good sir.” Darcy simpered with satisfaction.

“You’re welcome, finest maiden Darcy.”

“Ew, I am _so_ not a maiden.” She scoffed with a mouthful of noodles. “And you’re not allowed to talk like Thor, I get enough of ye olde when I talk to Jane.”

“Fair enough.” He smiled as he carefully picked up honey chicken with his chopsticks.

“ _A-hem_.” Came a voice behind her and both her and Bruce turned at once to look over at Billy standing in the corner. The two eating exchanged glances.

‘ _Do I tip him_?’ Darcy mouthed and she hiked her thumb back at Billy. Bruce shook his head and mouthed, ‘ _I don’t know’_. Darcy frowned and raised both her hands and shrugged. ‘ _Eigueuguhh_?’

“Billy!” Darcy turned around suddenly, making the boy look back at her with wide-eyes. “I think we’re good. We’ll call you if we need anything. But let me tell you, I get the _weirdest cravings_ at five in the morning.” Billy was beginning to blanch, so Darcy gently let him go. As she heard his SUV take off, she turned back to Bruce and quirked a brow.

They both laughed.


	3. Chapter 3

Darcy found that she really enjoyed talking to Bruce. While he was sometimes hesitant or cautious with what he said, he had a hidden sense of humor that showed itself the more they spoke. He was a great listener, too, always asking questions to fully understand the situation. Though it had only been hours, they fell into an effortless routine with their banter and chores around the cabin.   
  
“So what do you normally do on weekends when you’re not shipped off to examine potentially radioactive plantlife?” Darcy leaned forward on the loveseat to paint her nails with polish. Bruce looked up from his book on the opposing couch in thought.   
  
“I spend most of my time at the lab either at SHIELD or at Tony’s. I enjoy my work. It keeps me... focused. It’s both cathartic and energizing. Sometimes I read, though.” Bruce tilted his head against his shoulder and lovingly looked down at the catalog in his lap.   
  
“What do you read?” Darcy could only imagine Bruce nose deep in a book on quantum theory, but the more she envisioned it, the more she came to the conclusion that Bruce had probably written it in the first place.   
  
“Everything I can get my hands on, really.” Bruce shrugged. “Let’s see. I was in Gambia a few years ago. I was moving from hostel to hostel and trying to pick up odd jobs, but I also volunteered as a school teacher for a while. I would read Harry Potter to them.”   
  
Darcy capped the nail polish and quickly moved off the seat to crawl across the floor to sit next to him. The guy was running from being caught and experimented on, all the while battling his own demons, and he took the time to sit around bunch of kids and read to them? About Harry Potter, no less! Darcy was riddled with curiosity on why Bruce Banner had not yet been inducted into sainthood. He looked a little surprised on why Darcy had scuttled across the room so quickly but he let out a laugh, ending with a nervous bite to his lip.   
  
“I take it you’re a fan?” He asked, setting the book he had been occupied with down beside him. Darcy craned her head to look up at him.  
  
“Hey I like my archetypal chosen ones and terrifying magical school policies as much as the next gal, but I was talking about, hold still--” Darcy brought her finger up to press against his nose, which was way harder than it looked while sitting on the floor with her back pressed to the couch. “You.”  
  
He looked at her in stunned silence, before his face flushed, and he scrunched his shoulders as close together and shifted uncomfortably. Those scruffy brows drew together as his lips struggled to frown. “There’s nothing about me that cou--”  
  
“Shut it, Hufflepuff, and listen. Because if you don’t, I’m giving you a pedicure. I don’t know you very well, but you just told me that you read stories to kids, not because you had to, but because you wanted to. So don’t turtle up on me when I give you a compliment. I’ve painted Thor’s toenails pink before and he much preferred being tasered.” Darcy didn’t even wonder about the repercussions of threatening a guy who could level a city. It was part of her job description, next to using quickbooks pro.   
  
“You tasered Thor?” Bruce asked after a quiet moment of contemplation.   
  
“Yeah, it’s on my resume.” Darcy shrugged and retrieved her nail polish, just in case.   
  
“Is that how you got your job with SHIELD?”   
  
“It’s a long story.” Darcy shook her head as she resumed painting her toenails. “Filled with gods with daddy-issues, mad scientists, secret government agencies.” She leaned forward to blow against her toes. Bruce was quiet, which Darcy presumed was the green light. She launched into how she ended up in the middle of New Mexico driving the Mystery Van, how she hit Thor and tasered him, fought a giant robot, got her stuff stolen by Coulson, and then how SHIELD originally decided to wipe her memory of the incident but had her ass saved by Jane, Thor, and Selvig. The only other option was for her to take on yet another intern job once she had finished Culver.

  
“Wow. That suddenly doesn’t make my relationship with SHIELD feel very strained at all.” Bruce said thoughtfully, once she had finished. “Still, why did you decide to become Doctor Foster’s apprentice if you were a political science student?”  
  
“The question of the ages.” Darcy primed as she applied a second coating. It was something she didn’t answer often, despite how often she was asked. It was at the end of her junior year that she had received the email calling for college of science students to assist in a project in New Mexico. “I didn’t want to go home for the summer.” She explained slowly, wondering if Bruce would just leave it at that. “It was impulsive, but I didn’t think I would actually get picked out of all the other candidates. Turned out, I was the only one. The rest is history. Now I work for a top secret government organization that harbors super heroes.” She expected to get another chuckle out of the scientist, but there was only silence, and Darcy quickly sought to amend it.    
  
“So now I’m SHIELD’s aide and now your assistant. So good on thirty-thousand for education, right? It’s like I’m perpetually blocked from being the main character of my own life.” It was then that Darcy realized what she had said, and who she said it in front of, but there was nothing she could do but wait for the next thing to be said.  
  
“I know the feeling.” Bruce said quietly and the empty feeling in her chest returned.  
  
“Let’s take over the world.”   
  
“...What?” Bruce blinked.  
  
“You heard me. Let’s take over the world. We’ll make our own rules and listen to no one. Or if you prefer, I’ll take over the world and be the queen-slash-supreme ruler it deserves and you can be Sir Bruce, my faithful companion who uses science for the good of all.” Damn it all to hell if Darcy was going to let this weekend be even more depressing than what was happening back on the east coast.  
  
However, it was then that a thought struck her. Why did she care? Yes, she empathized, and yes, she knew what it was like to be out of control in her own life, to be pushed around by government creeps who thought they knew best, and what it was like to have and to lose a Betty Ross. Despite those questions, her introspection took little time, because when she had first laid eyes on Bruce Banner being utterly alone, she had wanted to be his friend.  
  
“I think it might be a little dangerous to take over the world with me. I might level it by acci--”  
  
“That’s it!” Darcy huffed so loud she could feel Bruce move against the couch. “Feet.” Bruce didn’t move, if anything, became even more stiff in being still. Darcy slid sideways and began to peel off his shoe, tossing it to the other side of the room. “Being still doesn’t make you invisible to my line of vision, this isn’t Jurassic Park.”  
  
She grabbed his foot in hand and tossed away his sock. His toes wiggled against her grasp and she glanced up to see him smiling down at her.   
  
“What color?” He asked as she uncapped the nail polish and moved the brush over his big toe.   
  
“Hulk green.”  


  


**

*****

**  
Despite having to get up early in the morning to start their expedition, Darcy chatted with Bruce well into the night. They spoke of his travels through Africa, Asia, South America, and Darcy’s guilty fascination with Lady Gaga, because what kind of person wears meat dresses? She painted his toenails, and he returned the favor with painting her fingernails as they discussed the Arab Spring and middle eastern politics. Darcy professed her undying love for pizza, and gave Bruce grief for enjoying his plain with cheese. It was three in the morning when Darcy yawned and rest her forehead against Bruce’s knee, telling him she was only closing her eyes for a second.  
 ****  
*  
  
Helping Darcy up to climb onto the couch, Bruce draped a blanket over her body. He found her incredibly sweet and intelligent and her presence made him feel... safe. It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced in some time. He told himself safety was only an illusion, but that maybe just this once, he could entertain a friendship. As he stepped away, her hand reached out to curl around his shirt, pulling him back. Turning to check on her, he could see she was fast asleep, a faint smile on her face.  
  
“Good night, Darcy.”  
  
He could only hope this weekend went as smoothly as possible, not only for his sake, but for hers as well.


	4. Chapter 4

__  
“ Can’t you just be happy for me? ”   
  
Darcy stirred at the smell of something wonderful, something familiar, something...  
  
“Coffee.” She muttered groggily as she pulled herself into the land of the living. Sitting up on the couch, she looked down at the blanket in her lap as the memories of the night before returned. Did Bruce tuck her in or had she done it herself? And why was it dark out? Glancing down to the floor, she found her glasses tucked neatly beside her nail polish and cell phone. Definitely Bruce.  
  
Darcy climbed off the couch and made her way to the kitchen where Bruce was sitting at the counter drinking coffee and flipping through yet another book on plantlife. As soon as she approached, Bruce patted the wooden stool and she slowly climbed on top of it. In front of her was a plate of bacon and eggs and a fresh cup of coffee. Still in a sleepy stupor, she stared at it. Where did it come from? Did Bruce make it? Sleepy Darcy was a debilitated Darcy. She reached for the coffee.  
  
“Billy came by early with some groceries. He said something about 5 A.M. cravings?” Bruce looked Darcy as she groaned, feeling that comment bite her in the ass. She gave in and took a sip of the coffee and found that it was made black, but maybe she needed it considering she had only fallen asleep a handful of hours ago. And now she had to get ready to hike up into the woods to dig up some plants in the name of science. Black coffee it was, then.  
  
“Bruce, did you make breakfast?” She set the mug of coffee down and regarded the plate in front of her. When Bruce nodded, she took no time at all to wrap her arms around the man and mumble, “All the awards, Bruce”. Bruce froze up again but Darcy hardly paid notice, moving to properly appreciate her breakfast by putting it in her mouth. While she ate, she began to reflect on the dream that she couldn’t quite remember.  
  
  
*  
  
When Darcy asked if they were going to pop wheelies and ride flame powered motorcycles through the wilderness, Bruce plainly apologised. Instead, they began their three mile hike to the site at six in the morning, bringing a packed lunch, enough pop culture knowledge to win a game show, and the scientific method with them.  
  
“So really, the island was some sort of test and then they all met up in the afterlife and Hurley and Ben took over.” Darcy kicked away a rock on the mountain side in frustration at lousy writing and J.J. Abrams.   
  
“Huh.” Bruce mumbled in numb acceptance, an appropriate response to the destruction of good television.  
  
“I know, right?” Darcy tried not to feel too bad. LOST had ripped pretty much everyone off, but it was Bruce who had asked her to explain how the show had ended. Darcy sauntered along beside him, feeling the caffeine motivate her. Coffee never let her down, she thought. With a content sigh, she hummed aloud, “Darcy and Coffee forever. ”  
  
Bruce looked over to her and smiled, and Darcy was just quick enough to catch it. She was about to call him out on it to see if he would squirm uncomfortably and do the lip-biting thing or maybe the wrist-wringing thing, or her personal favourite, the running his hand through his hair-thing. That was the best of things. Instead, he stopped walking.  
  
“Want to see something cool?” He offered, raising his brows in a hopeful smile to her.  
  
“Nope.” She squinted at him, the sun beginning to filter over the eastern mountain range. Bruce paused, taking her sarcasm for absolute truth as he wavered.   
  
“Yep.” Darcy added and his shoulders relaxed as he shook his head.  
  
“I’ll show you. Oh, and please be careful.” He held out his hand as he walked closer to the edge of the mountainous rocky path that loomed over the cabin site. She stepped forward to the edge of the cliff, Bruce following close behind to rest a gentle hand on her forearm.  
  
Darcy looked over the mountainside as the sun began to rise, illuminating the lake at the base below them and filling the small enclosement with light. Like a curtain rising, it lifted the shadows from the cabin, the lake, the trees, and the mountainside, and pushed them into light. The sun swept across the valley, until it reached the base of the mountainside, crawling up the walls and exposing the world to day. Darcy stood breathless next to Bruce as they watched the world, extending for miles on end, be woken up and brought to life.  
  
In these small moments, in the few seconds as they stood on the precipice of the world waking up, Darcy was reminded what it felt to be in complete wonderment. This was pure, unadulterated life. The sinking feeling in her chest didn’t exist, the lies and half-truths that SHIELD perpetuated felt so far away, and for the first time, in a very long time, she was only here in the moment standing beside Bruce Banner.  
  
Slowly, she reached out to extend her arm over the mountain side, fingers stretching as far as they would go. The sunlight rose up the mountainside and flowed over her fingertips, warming her hand as the glow moved up her arm and washed over her body. Warmth spread over her body as a chill ran down her spine, a mixture of feeling that left Darcy speechless. She slowly lowered her hand and felt Bruce carefully pull her away from the edge.  
  
“Oh my god.” Darcy mumbled. Bruce let go of her arm and pushed his hands into his khakis as he looked abashedly towards the ground. Darcy couldn’t be more stunned with the view, or with Bruce. Did he normally hike up mountains and usher in the day?  
  
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” He looked to her before casting his gaze to the view.  
  
“Bruce, are you a wizard?” She turned to him suddenly and this time he didn’t even flinch. His lips twitched upward into an small lopsided smile at her doe-eyed expression.  
  
“Sorry, what?”  
  
“Hold still, I have to capture your magic. Smile.” Darcy fished her phone from her pocket, turning her back to Bruce to lean her head against his shoulder. She raised the phone above them and felt Bruce shuffle beside her with an ‘oh, um, uh’. She laughed as the camera went off and the photo turned out _ great._  
  
“No reception up here.” She pouted as held up her phone to the sky, like it would bestow some sort of magical 4G connection.   


“Why do you need to be online?” Bruce blinked as they stepped back onto their path and moved up the mountainside.  
  
“I wanted to text it to Jane.” She sighed as she pocketed her phone and jogged up behind him.   
  
“Do you miss her? Ah. Sorry. It’s none of my business, actually.” Bruce shrugged up his backpack onto his shoulders.   
  
“I do, but, you know, she’s doin’ her thang, being a badass scientist and romancing a god. She deserves it, she worked hard, and... I want what’s best for her.” Darcy glanced over at the mountain ridge, holding in her sigh. She really did miss Jane. Jane was her rock, her sensei, her heterosexual life partner of science and magic. Okay, so magic and science were technically the same thing, but still.   
  
“It’s a difficult position. To want someone, but to want what’s best for them even more.” Bruce added.  
  
Darcy didn’t know much about the intimate details of his life, but she was willing to bet that the statement represented his relationship with Betty. Tomorrow morning she would get married, and he didn’t even know. Would he still want that for her now? Should she tell him? What good would come of that? It would be the honest thing to do, and she was sure it would cost her her job, but wasn’t it right for him to know? She wondered if she herself would want to know. She wondered if it would have been better if she had never been told at all. She wondered if she would still have that sinking feeling.   
  
Darcy was stunned into silence for once, completely at a loss on the ethics of the situation. Maybe it wasn’t even about ethics anymore, maybe it was about empathy, or friendship, or love, or duty. Darcy chastised herself over it all. So what, she didn’t get everything in life, but it was still good! But this was Bruce Banner, who had sacrificed everything in his world because he couldn’t be the best for Betty Ross, not for anyone, not even himself.   
  
“You’re a good friend.” He said reassuringly, and for a moment, Darcy forgot they were talking about Jane. It was Betty, and then it was Bruce, and...  
  
She pushed the thought from her head.  
  
“I’m not some selfless hero, or anything. I’m just the intern, remember?” She snorted as she pushed forward ahead of him. Thankfully Bruce followed up beside her, because he was the one with the Nav-map. Whatever, she could totally navigate a mountain. She tasered a god. “Besides! You’re the one that’s some super scientist- slash-doctor-slash-biggest humanitarian  ever . If I’m a good friend, you’re a good... everything. You’re a good everything.” Darcy turned to smile at him, but he didn’t smile back. He only looked confused, constrained, conflicted.  
  
Instead, Bruce just looked back down to the Nav-map to press in several coordinates. After it beeped back at him, he strode past Darcy. “We’re here.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Changed Betty Ross's wedding date from two days to tomorrow due to timeline issues.


	5. Chapter 5

“We’re here.”  
  
Darcy sauntered after him, climbing up a series of flat stones to set up their research materials once they had reached their destination. Further from the mountain’s edge, against the trees, sprouted small, white mushrooms. His announcement was almost enough to temporarily distract Darcy from the fact that he constantly evaded her compliments.  
  
“Do compliments make you hulk out? Are you going to level the forest if I tell you I like your hair? By the way, great shirt.” She teased, pressing her lips together in a smug smirk as she caught the smile he tried to hide from her.  
  
“Sorry. And no, I’m not going to change from compliments.” He let out a breathy chuckle before he flipped open a small machine connected to a scanner. Darcy put on gloves as opened a box of glasses containers and extraction materials.  
  
“Here I was hoping to take down another Avenger after touching your hair.” She knelt down beside him and offered nothing but an impassive face and a shrug when he looked at her with mild surprise and confusion.   
  
“I’m not entirely sure why you would want to touch it in the first place, but I don’t think you want to go toe to toe with the other guy. Heard he’s a little mean.” Bruce entered in a series of numbers in the device after it whirred to life.  
  
“It looks soft.”  
  
“The other guy?”  
  
“Your hair.”  
  
“Oh.” Bruce set down the scanner for a moment to run his fingers through his hair. Darcy couldn’t help but stare as he did it.   
  
“I guess it is, a little.” His fingers grasped at it, tugging on the ends. Without another word, he picked up the scanner and began to trace for radiation signatures. Seriously, Bruce? As Darcy reached out to double-check on her theory in the form of fluff on his head, the scanner began to beep wildly.   
  
“Is it supposed to make that sound? Bruce?” Darcy withdrew her hand and leaned over his shoulder to look down at the device.  
  
“There’s a definite radiation signature.” He sighed. Darcy recoiled back, ready to grab her lunch and Bruce’s hand and make a run for it before she sprouted an extra limb. Bruce shook his head and held up his hand.  
  
“It’s strong, but temporary exposure is negligible. A hundred millisieverts is about what you get from a large x-ray at the doctors.” He adjusted his glasses as he read the scanner in true scientific fashion.  
  
“But people don’t get x-rays all day, every day.” Darcy pointed out as she watched him trace the scanner up from the mushrooms, then up the base of the tree.  
  
“...That wouldn’t be healthy, no.”   
  
“But, what about Whitecreek? Are they going to get cancer? Is this like Fukushima or Chernobyl or something?” Darcy didn’t understand, why would SHIELD wait until the wedding to send Bruce? SHIELD was sketchy, but they were the good guys. Why would they risk exposure to the local town and environment?  
  
According to Coulson’s debriefing, a local scientist had called in a request to have him fly out to check out a possible radiation signature in their plantlife. SHIELD wasn’t going to hand over Bruce for just anything, and it wasn’t until the wedding that it was justified. How had it gone from a possible radiation signature to a definite one? Darcy had so many more questions but she couldn’t ask them without giving anything away.   
  
Bruce ran his hand through his hair again as he sighed in thought. “I don’t know. We’ll have to call a team out here sometime later and call in the government. I can’t be here for that, so for now, let’s just collect samples and run some tests.”  
  
Something about this didn’t feel right to Darcy.  
 **  
**

*****

  
They worked throughout the morning, collecting the samples, scanning, and recording the data. Radiation traced in almost everything in the immediate area and they collected multiple samples of what they could fit into petri dishes and beakers to take back with them. Darcy learned that it was hard to converse with Bruce while he worked, but in a way, she didn’t mind. Observing him was just as fascinating; watching Bruce do science was like watching someone fall in love. He would smile broadly as he picked plantlife apart, excitedly marking down notes in response, and looking up to Darcy with big brown eyes full of curiosity.  
  
It was in the early afternoon that Darcy finally pulled him away from his work, goading him with the promise of food.   
  
“You made these? What time did you wake up?” Darcy looked into the sandwich, finding its contents to be ham, cheese, and tomato. She had set up a blanket further away from the project site.   
  
“Probably around five. I think I got about two hours of sleep.” He shrugged his shoulders as if this were normal for him and she had to sigh at him in exasperation for it.   
  
“I’m the one that’s here to help. Not to break out into cheesy song and all, but you can lean on me. I’m weird, but reliable.” She laughed before biting into the sandwich.  
  
“Do you remember when we met?” Bruce asked suddenly, looking up from his food to her. Darcy stilled, looking up to meet his gaze.   
  
“Yesterday?”  
  
“No,” He laughed softly. “I meant before, at SHIELD. Ah, nevermind, it makes sense you don’t remember.”  
  
Darcy, with a mouthful of sandwich, waved her hand around until she swallowed. “No, I remember.” She took a sip from her bottle of water as she thought about it. She had been in the breakroom, it was her first week and she was easily overwhelmed by the entire organization and she hid out there until Coulson dragged her out to put her back to work. Bruce would come by, but only after everyone left. Sometimes he would accidentally run into people and they would sidestep out of his way, mumbling about him. After that, Darcy never ran into him again until she started delivering notes to him, but he was usually too absorbed in his work to notice her.  
  
“Why?”  
  
Bruce paused at her question, looking both thoughtful and cautious. “Did you know who I was? What I am?”  
  
Darcy knew this game that Bruce was playing, and she hated it, but she knew that if her life was defined by everything that had gone wrong, she would be doing it too. She considered playing coy and just answering back with  _Competitor for the Nobel Prize? Super-hero? Fluffy?_   
  
“Yeah. I can see what you’re doing. You’ll have to try harder to scare me off.” Darcy was hardly fazed. Aliens and terrorists attacked her world on a monthly basis. It was only a tragedy how SHIELD treated Bruce and caged him into doing their work. There wasn’t a lot of negotiating with them, to say the least.  
  
“You don’t give up, do you, Darcy Lewis?” Bruce’s voice wasn’t chastising, but warm. Darcy breathed in deep, filling her chest with the kindness of his words.  
  
“Do you want me to, Doctor Bruce Banner?” She raised a brow to him and tried her best to suppress a smile.  
  
His smile slowly faded. “You can’t save me, Darcy. Trust me... others have tried.” He began to clean up his finished lunch before him, clearing it to the side. Taking that opening as an opportunity, Darcy turned and leaned back to rest her head on his leg. She didn’t know how he would react, but that was a bit of the fun she got from it. Bruce was such an enigma to her, she wanted to see what buttons connected to which reaction. Even his most cautious and abashed expressions spoke volumes, and that enthralled her. She wondered if it was selfish to think that it left her wanting more.  
  
“I don’t see anything to save.”  She said quietly, reading his pained expression. She wondered if behind that look on his face he was hiding something else. Hope? Fear? Before he could speak again, she continued. “When we first met, I wanted to be your friend.”   
  
Bruce leaned back, spacing himself from Darcy. She wasn’t sure if she was making him uncomfortable or if he was simply being seemly. He bit his lip and turned his head to look out over the vast view of the mountaintops before them. He fell quiet, which was the cue for Darcy to continue.   
  
“At the time, when I first got to SHIELD, I had a hard time adjusting. I was the newbie that got the job because of my connections. I was fresh out of school and everyone thought I was pretty dumb. I mean, there’s always Galaga-Guy, but I was pretty bottom of the barrel and I would hide out in the breakroom to hang out with the coffee. Then you would come in, and people would scatter and leave, and I thought that was such a dick move for them. But you didn’t seem to mind, you just looked up at me when I was the only one left, and you smiled.” Darcy’s voice trailed off as she relived the memory. It was such an ordinary, commonplace experience, but the little things always end being memorable.  
  
Bruce let out an incredulous laugh, leaning back until he rest on the ground. Darcy rolled off his leg and moved to lay on her side beside him. “Is that your qualification for friendship?”  
  
“Yep.” She said as if it were the most obvious answer, which to her, it was.  
  
“Just like that? Friends?” Bruce raised his brows.  
  
“I painted your nails and you made me breakfast. I think we’re already there. Is that going to be a problem?”  
  
“I don’t have many friends.” He said, almost if reminding her of the painfully obvious, and yet his eyes brimmed with excitement. It was the same look when they collected samples.    
  
“Ooh, am I supposed to feel special now?” She teased, rolling over to her back and folding her hands over her stomach.   
  
“Maybe you should.” Bruce’s smile turned into an abashed grin, and Darcy delighted in the effect. What an achievement, to make Bruce Banner look so happy! Friends, it sounded so nice to Darcy. She had friends, of course, either from Culver or from work, but she graduated and there was the natural falling out. Work friends were nice, and she occasionally tagged along with the Avengers, but as Coulson’s second in command, people were either dubious of her abilities or worried they would incur Coulson’s wrath by proxy. Darcy had never thought of herself as lonely, but she was more than happy to have Bruce in her life.   
  
“Let’s go exploring tomorrow. We have to check out where the radiation source is from, right?” She was excited now and there was nothing stopping it.   
  
“Is this your idea of an adventure?”  
  
“Yep.”  
  
Darcy wanted this moment to last forever.  
  
But it wouldn’t.

 


	6. Chapter 6

When they finally got back to the cabin, Darcy was ready to collapse from exhaustion. From the walking six miles, listening to Bruce rattle off information that far surpassed her scientific prowess, and getting three hours of sleep, she was beat. Stepping up the stairs to the cabin, Darcy wobbled backward. She let out a small yelp as she slipped backwards, but felt Bruce’s arms wrap around her shoulders as he caught her.

“Careful.” He reminded her gently, looking down at her as she gazed up at him. Behind them, she could hear a car pulling up. Leave it to Billy to ruin a good moment.

“No thanks.” She hummed back at him as she moved from his hold to saunter up the stairs.

“Are you going to nap? I’m going to talk to Billy about what we found and have him email our report once he’s back in town. I’ll wake you up before dinner.”

“What did you find?” Billy asked as he walked between them.

“Nothing Interesting.”

“Something Interesting.” Darcy and Bruce said collectively. They exchanged sly looks and turned back to Billy.

“Cool. Guess you’ll fill me in, Doctor Banner?” The intern asked, turning to ignore Darcy and pay attention to Bruce. Darcy leaned on her toes to look over Billy and wave at Bruce before stepping inside.

*

Of course as soon as Darcy moved to flop down on her bed her phone rang. She was prepared to let it go until she read the screen, in which she immediately let the call be answered. Sitting upright on her bed, she sprang up and paced across the room.

“Jane!” Darcy happily cried, excited at the chance to be able to speak with her friend. After this morning’s conversation about how much she missed her, it was relieving to hear her voice. Though Jane’s voice was anything but happy.

“I just got off the phone with SHIELD, they wouldn’t tell me where you were and why you weren’t answering your phone all day!” Darcy flinched as Jane chastised her.

“Woah, hold your horses, lady. It’s just that this place has like, no signal. Not in the mountains where we’re doing our work, anyways. Did you know we only have dial-up? We’re sending all our reports to SHIELD through our intern. Yep, we have an intern. I’m moving up in the world. You should be proud.”

“Darcy, you should have told me you were being sent off with Doctor Banner.” Her voice was stern, and Darcy couldn’t help but sigh. She knew what this was about, and she hated it. She was tired with the rhetoric that he was dangerous. Everyone in their lives were dangerous, and singling him out wasn’t fair to anyone.

“It just came up, I didn’t even know I was leaving until a few nights ago. Look, he’s...” She leaned against the window, watching Billy and Bruce talk outside. “He’s not bad.”

“He may not be bad, but he’s volatile and dangerous. What if he hurts you? Even SHIELD won’t be able to get there in time to help you if something goes wrong. Darcy... you could have exercised at least a little more caution.”

As Jane droned on, Darcy watched the two men outside engaging in conversation about their findings. Her fingers came to rest against the window pane, scratching her nail over Billy’s face. She couldn’t help but be disappointed by Jane’s tirade. She would have hoped that she understood.

“Thor’s dangerous,” Darcy countered stubbornly. “Seriously, how does he not murder you with his myeuh-myeuh every time you guys do it? Is that why it rained so much this summer? Your fucking is responsible for meteorological anomaly, isn’t it.”

“Darcy!” Jane protested. She could hear the embarrassment and frustration in the woman’s voice and she couldn’t help but laugh. At the same moment, Bruce turned and looked up at Darcy, catching her mid-laugh. He smiled and waved at her and she slowly held her hand up in a small wave before ducking away from the window. She paced across the small room before twirling and flopping on the bed.

“I know you’re worried, but he’s not going to Hulk out. There’s no reason for him to. We’re just poking at plants and goofing off and having wilderness adventures. It’s fun.” Darcy looked up at the ceiling and kicked her feet off the edge of the bed. She was having fun, despite oh, all the lies, betrayal, and caution. She just hoped that Bruce would still want to be her friend after they returned to New York. He would, right?

“Darcy Lewis is having fun without the internet and cell phone reception? I’m shocked. Appalled, even. Maybe even a little horrified.”

“I saw mountain goats today. And Bruce made me breakfast. Did you know he used to read Harry Potter? To kids! Ooh, and then I painted his toenails. Jane, Bruce is the most legit person I’ve ever met. You would totally geek out talking to him. Besides, he’s not going to hurt me, we’re friends.”

“Woah.” Was all Jane said.

“Woah, what?”

“You like him!”

Darcy nearly choked, coughing and sputtering as she rolled over to her side. She could hear Jane cackling up a storm on the other end of the line.

“That is a highly subjective and dangerous word. Bruce... is cool. And I like his hair. And I guess he has really nice eyes. He’s sweet, okay? He’s just really sweet.” Darcy tried to defend herself, but the more she spoke, the more defeated she came to sound. _Did she like Bruce?_ Well, he was handsome and nice, and funny, and cute, and...

“Please be careful.” Jane sighed softly and Darcy was quiet for a few moments before yawning a _yeah_.

“Tired?” She asked.

“I haven’t been getting very good sleep. Do you remember when I told you about the end of my junior year? Right before New Mexico?” Darcy began to pull out threads on the quilt. She wasn’t sure if diverting from good feelings to bad feelings was the best course of action. Why couldn’t she be a robot? Robot Darcy would be awesome. She could shoot lasers and run on coffee.

“Yeah, I remember.”

“I can’t get it out of my head. My angst has literally been stalking me to the middle of nowhere. Maybe middle of nowhere and angst are highly correlated--”

“Correlation is not causation, Darcy.”

“I know that, but it might be in this case. It’s not Bruce, it’s stuff surrounding Bruce. I’ll tell you why when I get back. I can’t explain it now, there’s some top secret government stuff going on and it sucks so bad and I hate SHIELD forever sometimes. They have a great health plan, but seriously, I want to scream at them sometimes.”

“You could always taser the first agent you see when you get back. They train them for that, right? Think of it as catharsis.” Jane said in a nonchalant tone.

“Jane, for the most reliable person I know, you frighten me. Hey, by the way, how’s Abs McGee?”

“Thor’s fine. He’s here, actually. Want to say hello? -- Yeah, It’s Darcy, she’s away on assignment with Doctor Banner.” Jane held the phone from her face and with a bit of that crumpling sound against the speaker, a new voice emerged.

“Lady Darcy! I hear you are in travels with the man of knowledge. He has not turned into the large green one, has he?” Thor’s voice was booming and Darcy could hear Jane in the background reminding him to keep the receiver further from his mouth. Darcy laughed.

“Nope, all clear here. Bruce is really sweet. He’s a good guy.”

“Aye. He will treat you with much kindness and respect. It is a true loss that he blames himself for so much he cannot control.” Thor said. Darcy was hit with a wave of sadness, and she mentally scrambled to abort mission.

“Hey, how’s it going with Jane? I hope you’re making up for lost time.” Her voice was teasing.

“What did she say?” She could hear Jane in the background ask when Thor laughed.

“We are, indeed. Jane has won a trip to the isles of Hawaii. We leave in the morning.”

“I was going to tell her!” Jane piped up.

“Jane worries for your safety, Lady Darcy. She cares deeply for your friendship and wellbeing.” He said. Darcy couldn’t help but smile. She was happy for them, and she was glad that at least the two of them had it figured out. They both deserved it.

“I know. Thanks, Thor. You rock.”

“No, I am a god.” He said confusedly. Darcy laughed.

“I hope you enjoy your sweet vay-cay. Get me a souvenir, okay? Can you put Jane back on the phone?”

“Why does Lady Darcy confuse me with a stone?” Thor asked Jane and once again, Darcy heard the brush against the receiver that signaled the phone’s travel to Jane.

“What did I say about confusing my boyfriend?” Jane laughed.

“You didn’t tell me you were going on vacation!”

“Yeah, well you didn’t tell me about your science excursion! But I just got the tickets yesterday. I don’t remember entering a contest, but free trip, so why not, right? I thought maybe you or someone at the college had entered my name into a sweepstakes.”

“Hey, don’t knock free stuff.” Darcy warned, sitting up in the bed. She glanced to the clock and wondered if Bruce was still outside talking to Billy.

“Yeah. Well, I should go. Please be careful, Darce. You’ll have to tell me all about crushing on Doctor Banner when you get back!”

“Lalalalala, Bye, Jane!”

“How does Lady Darcy have the strength to cru--” Jane had hung up just as Thor shouted in the background.

It was quiet again as she dropped the phone beside her, taking the time to curl up on the bed. It comforted Darcy to think about Thor and Jane on their beach vacation, having fun and getting away from it all. In a way, she had the same opportunity with Bruce. Sure, they were digging up radioactive mushrooms in the ground, but they were having fun, all things considered.

She thought back on what Jane said as she lay there. Did she have a crush on Bruce? She had really only known him two days and it was such a short amount of time that she wondered if she broke the laws of the universe by liking someone so fast. In all honesty, she wasn’t aware of it. She didn’t like him just because she found him handsome, or wanted to touch his hair, she knew that. It was something else, this magnetism and effortless warmth that she got by simply being in his presence. She didn’t want anything from him, she just wanted to be near him. She wanted to be able to laugh, talk, explore, and comfort him. She wanted to figure out what made him tick. She wanted to get inside his head, inside his heart, inside his aspirations and fears and figure it all out. Jane was right, it was more than a curiosity or an appreciation.

Darcy _liked_ Bruce.

She sighed as she realized there was no possible way to fall asleep now. If anything, she felt energized by her revelation and her talk with Jane. Sitting up in her bed, she decided to go see what Billy and Bruce were up to, and planned on asking Bruce if they could make dinner together.

Darcy walked down the stairs to see Bruce and Billy still talking, though they had moved their meeting inside to their collection of research. Darcy eyed Billy suspiciously, watching the gawky grad student nod as Bruce explained their findings. They both looked up at her as she made her descent down the stairs. Bruce briefly smiled at her entrance, before turning back to Billy.

“I appreciate all your help. We’ll meet you at the site tomorrow morning.” said Bruce. Billy began to pack up, sliding the samples and paperwork into his bag. He clipped their flash drive to his keys and patted his sides, preparing himself for his return to town.

“You’re committed to your work, Doctor Banner. Considering the wedding and all.”

Darcy froze where she stood at the base of the stairs.

“What wedding?” Bruce asked, removing his glasses.

Suddenly, Darcy could feel her heart drop and her blood run cold as she watched the scene unfold. It was set in motion and suddenly there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“Doctor Betty Ross.”

The moment slowed down, and in that second, she wasn’t sure if she hated herself, Billy, or SHIELD the most. Though as Bruce’s frightened eyes moved to meet Darcy’s, the answer became abundantly clear.


	7. Chapter 7

“Woah, why is everyone so tense?” Billy laughed. He held up his hands, palms out, as he slowly backed away from the scene. Darcy never wanted to throat punch someone until now. Didn’t SHIELD debrief him at the least? Was Betty Ross so famous that people in BFE knew about her wedding on the east coast? Darcy barely had time to consider it.   
  
When Bruce turned his gaze to Darcy, she was sure that he could read her like a book. All her secrets, her shame, and her lies felt exposed. She should have told him sooner and keeping it away from him felt like an immediate regret. At the same time, she wished Billy had never opened his mouth. If only Bruce never found out. She didn’t think of all the reasons why she did keep it from him, and didn’t consider the merit of those actions. In that moment, all she could think of was how much she wanted for the moment to pass, for it to be okay for ten more minutes, one more hour, one more day. If that was ignorance, she wanted it -- and she felt horrible for that. The sinking feeling that plagued her this weekend returned full force, causing the gravity of the situation to come crashing down around her.   
  
“Bruce.” Darcy pleaded, terrified that her voice barely escaped her. She felt an encapsulating, trapping vulnerability. She watched as Bruce turned away from her and back to Billy.   
  
“I have a few decisions to make. I’ll contact you tonight with my plans. Thank you.” Bruce crossed his arms and brought his closed fist to rest against his lips. Darcy slumped back against the wall, making space for Billy to walk by. She slowly looked up to the intern’s face, barely catching the look he gave her as he passed her. She could have sworn he was smiling.   
  
When he finally left, the slamming of the door was the only sound that moved through the cabin. Darcy swallowed down her fears as she stepped towards Bruce, ready to explain the situation. He held his hand up, stopping her.   
  
“You knew.” It wasn’t a question, but a calm and deliberate accusation. His voice was hard and Darcy had to will herself not to flinch at the sound.   
  
“Coulson told me.”   
  
Bruce laughed bitterly, swinging his arms out at his sides. “So that’s why they needed me out here. Out of all the scientists, out of all the researchers, they sent me. To get me out of town for the weekend. Is that it?”  Darcy looked away.   
  
" _It is, isn’t it_ ! ” Bruce shouted, causing Darcy to jump. Bruce scoffed, shaking his head.   
  
“Bruce, I’m so sor--” Darcy started, her voice shaking. She watched as he closed himself off, shut his gentleness down, and replace it with cynicism. She hated this, what he did to himself, what SHIELD did to him, what Betty Ross did to him, what life did to him, what she did to him. She hated all of it and she wanted nothing more to be able to somehow stop it, somehow fix it, somehow be able to help.   
  
“I don’t need your pity!” He slammed his hands on the table, causing Darcy to reflexively jump back in fear. In many ways, Darcy was relieved he was angry. She would have been angry too. The worst thing he could do would be to shut down and give up. She didn’t want him to give up, she wanted him to be mad, to be frustrated, but she didn’t want it to come at the price of everything good about him.   
  
“They thought I would be angry, well they got it, I’m  _angry_ . This is just fucking great.” He growled, combing through his hair and pulling on the ends. He looked up to Darcy’s stunned face, and for the first time since Billy had been in the room, they exchanged looks. Darcy looked terrified, not because she was afraid of what he could do to her, but what he could do to himself. She saw the pain in his realization when Billy had told him, and saw the pain in his eyes when he looked into hers.   
  
“You’re going back home tonight.” He said.   
  
“What? No!”   
  
“You were never supposed to be here. SHIELD was irresponsible in sending you along. I can finish the project on my own.” Bruce removed his cell phone from his pocket and began to dial. Without thought, Darcy moved forward and slapped it out of his hand. The phone bounced against the ground between them.   
  
“I’m not going back! You’re being a paternalistic douche!” She cried. “Everyone is so obsessed with telling me what I should and shouldn’t do. What about what _ I  _ want to do, what  _I_ think is safe? Is that meaningless?”   
  
“I’m dangerous. I’ve killed people.” Bruce turned to walk away from her, gaining distance as he moved into the living room. Darcy followed after him. She wasn’t going to let this go. She wasn’t going to let  him go.  
  
“And everyone else hasn’t? What, so, Tony Stark has always been a humanitarian and not a weapons dealer? Hello, Merchant of death? A-And Thor? He’s a warrior! Do you think war is only based on dichotomies like good and bad? Barton and Natasha? They’re assassins and mercenaries, Bruce! SHIELD was going to blow up Manhattan! Do you seriously think I’m an idiot? What in my life isn’t dangerous?”  
  
“But they’ve changed. They can control themselves. When I lose control, nothing can stop me. I’m a  weapon  and not even SHIELD can stop me.” Bruce began to pace, his hand wrenching around his opposite wrist.  
  
“I’m not afraid of you.”   
  
“Then you’re not as smart as I hoped you were.”  
  
Darcy felt her chest filled with heated indignation. Crossing the space between them once more, she pushed her hands against his arm with all her strength, causing Bruce to stumble sideways.   
  
“What are you  _doing_ ? Are you trying to make me angry?” He grit through his teeth as he slumped against the opposite wall. He hunched his shoulders inward as he glared away from her. She could see he was trying to scare her away and shut himself down. She wondered how many times he had done this to people. She wondered if that was the only thing he knew how to do anymore.   
  
“You should be angry! But that doesn’t mean you can be a dick! Does gamma radiation make you a complete ass?” She screamed back. Bruce looked at her, stunned. For a small moment, he looked unguarded and helpless. He looked genuinely afraid. Darcy knew he wasn’t afraid of her, so she only guessed at what the look was over. Himself? What he was capable of? What he was capable of doing to her? What she was capable of doing to him? If just a look could make Darcy feel so vulnerable around him, she wondered what he felt like when she looked at  him . She stepped forward and immediately noticed the sharp intake of breath, the guarded way he leaned away from her. He wasn’t going to let her get any closer, even if it was her plan to comfort him. Fueled by that disappointment, she continued.  
  
“SHIELD screwed you over! Your ex is getting married in the morning. It sucks! It sucks so, so, so bad! But you are so good, Bruce. You’re a doctor and you help people and you actually legitimately give a shit about other people! You’re so smart, but you obscure your success because of an accident! You destroy yourself because you think you deserve it! But you don’t! Everyone has regrets, everyone, even me. I know it’s not the same, not even close, and I know I can’t understand all your pain, but everyone’s hurt other people, even if we never want to. Everyone feels like they could have done something else, something different, something better. And everyone feels horrible when we realize we can’t take these shitty things back and it feels even worse when that’s a constant loop in our heads. But...maybe we’re supposed to experience regret. Maybe the goal isn’t to get rid of them, but to live with them and learn and better ourselves, and -.. and, I don’t know how, but you could. You _could_ , right?”   
  
Darcy felt exhausted the more she spoke. She could argue, beg, and plead with him. She could try to make him angry, try to inspire, try to bargain, but she could see on his face that it wasn’t doing anything. It felt lost on Bruce no matter what she said or did or how much she cared. It was both incredibly frustrating and painful. Now that she had laid everything on the table, now that she had expended her energy, all she could do was wait. So Darcy waited.  
  
And waited.  
  
And waited.  
  
The silence was deafening and they stood there, divided by so much, but connected by this chance. This event that brought nothing but pain and regret and reminder of loss to him. Darcy could only hope that everything she could give and would give wouldn’t be for nothing. The truth was that she honestly cared about Bruce. She wasn’t sure when it happened or how it happened or really why it happened. Maybe it was the day they met or the morning where Coulson explained Bruce’s situation. Maybe it was connecting that to her own pain and her own experiences. Maybe it was seeing how brilliant and funny and empathetic he could be. Maybe it was getting to know him just a little more.   
  
“You don’t know me.” He said finally. Darcy swallowed hard as he straightened his back and took in a deep breath. This was not what she had expected, and not what she wanted.   
  
“What?”  
  
“You don’t know who I really am. You’re glorifying the part of me you like best. That’s... not the whole picture. I’ve done terrible things and I deserve what’s happened to me. I deserve... this.” He raised his hand to himself. He voiced it so matter-of-factly that he could have been talking about the weather. The pain and regret and self-loathing that he internalized ran so deep that it became his absolute truth.   
  
“Then show me! Show me who you really are, Bruce, please. Because I don’t buy it.”  
  
Bruce let out an embittered laugh. “What’s the point? I don’t need to inflict myself on you, Darcy.”  
  
Darcy staggered back, stunned.  Inflict?  Darcy could feel her chest constrict in pain at his words.   
  
“We’re friends.” Darcy choked out, her words tumbling out as a barely audible whisper.   
  
She looked to him then, watching him absorb the impact of that simple phrase. His fists curled up at his side as he slowly shook his head. She wasn’t sure if he was battling it out with himself or slowly erasing that truth, but he had tears in his eyes. He sniffed loudly, and moved a hand across his nose as he stared hard at the ground. He looked back towards his phone that Darcy had tossed aside, his eyebrows imperceptibly drawing together. Then, without a word, he walked out of the living room to pick up his phone, and move towards the door. If Bruce knew one thing: if he could only do one thing right, it was to run away.  
  
“No!” Darcy nearly tripped over her own feet as she ran after him, pushing off the walls of the hall.  
  
“I’m going for a walk.”   
  
The door slammed in her face just as she reached it. Her forward motion came to a complete stop as her hands slapped against the closed door. She stared forward at it, mouth agape as tears pooled in her eyes. With an unintelligible scream, she beat her fist against the door, before slowly falling down against it. The moment ended as soon as it began, with no resolution just as there was no warning. Maybe it was some twisted metaphor for the life, the universe, and everything else, but Darcy could only think of how much she just wanted him. Here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a gifset for Bruce storming out :) 
> 
> http://tinyurl.com/9o485up


	8. Chapter 8

It would have been less dramatic and more pragmatic to say that after Bruce walked out, Darcy got up, shook it off, and went about her evening without a care. That would have also been a lie. Instead, Darcy sat slumped against the door and waited. She waited for what, to her, seemed like a very long time. Although Darcy debated internally that she was wasting her time by being a sap, she came to argue back that she cared too much already, and for that reason, she wouldn’t give up. There was a lot she wanted to do, namely kick and scream at Bruce before running into Jane’s open arms. Bruce wasn’t here and kicking him was probably a terrible idea and Jane was thousands of miles away about to be even further away once she took her trip with her beau.  
  
Darcy couldn’t guess how long she stayed like that, but by the time she removed herself from the door, it was already night time. She ducked her head down as she moved through the living room and into the kitchen. As she looked at the stocked food, she noticed that if Billy the Intern could do anything right, he was good at shopping for comfort food. So as she made a giant batch of macaroni and cheese, she shoveled pop tarts into her mouth. It wasn’t glamorous, but it felt good, and Darcy would settle for that right now.  
  
She repeatedly glanced to the living room as she made dinner, reflecting on the argument, on Bruce, on herself. She knew she should have been more mature. She shouldn’t have snapped at him and she definitely shouldn’t have pushed him. He said she didn’t know him, and she started to worry that was true. She was presumptuous and was basing her image of him based from two days time and a handful of office run-ins. Still, she wanted to know him, to understand him, to just _exist_ around him. She only hoped he came back soon.  
  
He didn’t.  
  
After dinner, she saran wrapped a bowl of macaroni for Bruce and placed it in the fridge. She paced around the living room until her head spun, replaying the moments over and over and over. What could she have done differently? Even if she hadn’t exploded at him, he would have still distrusted her as much as SHIELD. He would have still been soaked in that same self-loathing. He would have still tried to have her go back to New York. Bruce said he couldn’t be saved. She said he didn’t need it. Darcy wanted to stand by that statement.  
  
“I’m not here to fix his life, right? He doesn’t need it and he doesn’t want it. And it’s not my place to be some manic pixie dream girl. What do I do, creepy moose head?” She looked up at the wall of the cabin, crossing her arms at the beheaded trophy animal. Of course, Darcy never got a response.  
  
“Worst creepy moose head, ever. How am I supposed to go to you for sagely advice in my moment of need?” She waved her hand at the moose head before leaving the living room and crawling upstairs to get ready to turn in for the night.  
  
Even after she showered, Bruce still wasn’t back. Without a car, he couldn’t go very far. He could have called Billy and gotten a ride into town, but she crossed her fingers he would come back soon. As she crawled into bed, she set an alarm on her phone. She set it down and crawled under the covers before it buzzed with a text. She reached for it quickly and unlocked the screen, only to find that it was from Jane:  
  
 _About to step on the plane! Omfg Hawaii is going to be SO awesome!  I hope you have fun with Doctor Banner. I know you will. You make your own fun. Get some, girl!  xoxo Jane_  
  
Darcy let out a relieved laugh as she pressed her phone to her forehead.  
  
“Jane I will take you over non-sagely creepy moose head any day of the week.”  
  
Texting her back, she wrote:  
  
 _I will, thank you Jane! I owe you big time. Have a safe trip and GET LEID._  
  
Scrolling through her contacts, Darcy picked out Bruce’s number she had programmed in before the trip started. She attached a photo she took earlier that morning of the two standing at the cliff’s edge. After hitting send, she sent another.  
  
 _Get your big green butt back here. I made mac n cheese. And it’s the cheesiest. Creepy moose head is a terrible conversational partner. I miss you and your dumb hair. Be safe._  
  
P.S. (do people use PS on texts?): Totes not trying to “save” you.  I don’t think you need it, but you should work that out. I’m the main character of my life, remember? Though I think if you aren’t here to restrain me, I might throttle Billy. Do you think I’d win? I’d so win.   
  
_P.P.S. Your hair’s not dumb. It’s fluffy and I like it._  
  
 _-Your BFF Darcy Lewis_  
  
Darcy hit send before expelling a sigh and setting her phone down beside her. Just as she was falling asleep, she thought she heard the front door open.  
 **  
***

 

 _You would like her. She’s a lot like you._  
  
Darcy woke up to the muffled sound of her phone alarm going off. Somehow, she managed to stuff it under her pillow and then stack _another_ pillow on top of it. For the first few seconds of being conscious, she looked forward to eating breakfast with Bruce. Then, the memories of the night before returned. The weight that she felt seemed unbearable. She thought hurt feelings was a pretty decent reason for sleeping in, but the thought of her texts to both Bruce and Jane plagued her conscience.  
  
“Gotta be responsible and a decent person and stuff. Ugh, why is it so exhausting? Next time Loki invades I’m swearing my allegiance to him and helping him take shit over.” She groaned aloud as her alarm went off yet again. As she turned it off, she had a text waiting. Bruce. Sent from twenty minutes ago, it read:  
  
 _Thank you for dinner._  
I made breakfast.   
_I understand if you want to stay at the cabin._  
 _I’m sorry._  
 _-Bruce_  
  
Darcy scrambled out of bed after reading the message over no less than five times. Getting dressed for the day, she ran down the hall to knock on his bedroom door. Peering in the room, there was nothing.  
  
“Bruce?” She shouted out over the railing as she leaned over it. No response. A ‘hm’ and ‘hmph’ later, she made her way downstairs. The kitchen smelled like bacon and coffee, and upon further inspection, there was biscuits and bacon set out on a napkin. It was still before sunrise, but Bruce already left for the site. If he had left a message twenty minutes ago, it meant that he had sent the message before getting too deep into the mountains. Darcy picked up a warm piece of bacon and bit into it. Bruce had just left.  
  
Grabbing a biscuit and a handful of bacon, she ran out the door.  
  
Bruce had apologized, but what for? For storming out? For insulting her judgment and decisions? For leaving her at the cabin? For having amazingly touchable hair which she had still not touched? Darcy didn’t know. But she was going to find out. She was going to tell him she was sorry for being presumptuous, for being pushy, for being demanding, and from keeping the wedding from him. She knew she acted out, she knew she panicked, she knew she took the irresponsible route -- but so had Bruce. Instead of dealing with his problems and instead of facing her, he tried to ship her back home and walked out the door. Someone had to be the better person, and Darcy elected herself. Her reasoning? Being awesome.  
  
There were other reasons, of course. One being that she cared about him. She needed to know if Bruce cared about her too. If he didn’t, then she wouldn’t waste her time. Or more likely she would get drunk with Jane and cry and karaoke Lily Allen songs and _then_ stop wasting her time. But if Bruce _did_ care, then she would commit herself to being by his side. She promised that to herself. She only hoped that Bruce cared. Today was Betty Ross’s wedding day. She _really_ hoped Bruce cared, because she _really_ wanted to care about him. Especially today.  
  
Darcy paused as she looked out at the sun rising. This morning it was muddled by a thick cloud cover, covering the forests and the mountains with a greyish purple haze. No light moved over the view to lift a veil. No sun peaked through. Erring on the side of caution, Darcy scuttled up to the edge of the cliff. She closed her eyes, breathing in deep. Stretching out her arm, her hand, her fingertips, she imagined the warmth that Bruce had showed her the previous morning. She exhaled and shook her hand, opening her eyes. Between her fingertips, was Bruce. Across the ledges she could see the ascending mountainous path to her left. Bruce moved up the path next to another person. Billy.  
  
She frowned. It wasn’t because she hated Billy (she did); it was because when she left the cabin, his SUV wasn’t there. How had he even got there? Did someone drop him off? Darcy turned back and peered over the ledge towards the cabin. Squinting, she saw Billy’s SUV pull up to the cabin. A man exited, but it wasn’t Billy. He looked around cautiously before walking in. Something wasn’t right. Stepping back from the ledge, Darcy looked up the path and began to run.  
  
She felt sweaty and gross by the time she caught up to them, right as they reached the site. Bruce blinked and gaped at her as she doubled over against her knees, panting and gasping for breath. When she looked up at him, he dodged her look. Instead, she looked over to Billy, who looked as pale as a ghost.  
  
“Morning.” She straightened her back and waved as nonchalantly as she could as she strode up between them. They both slowly inched away from her.  
  
“Sup.” She slapped Billy’s shoulder. “Are you normally in the business of taking people’s work?” _and friends_ , she added mentally. It sounded even bitterer than the sentiment in her tired voice, but Billy only gave a weak smile.  
  
“Doctor Banner didn’t think you would be joining us this morning. And neither did I. Though I’m glad you could join us, Miss Lewis. Wouldn’t want to be sleeping in. Might miss something.” He rolled his eyes. Darcy looked over to Bruce who looked away, but slowly turned his gaze back to Darcy.  
  
“I didn’t know how you felt.” He said quietly. Darcy smiled at him.  
  
“What, no scientific method, Banner? Hypothesis? Observation? Experimentation?” She shuffled her hands into her pockets and shrugged her shoulders. Bruce smirked in response. It wasn’t a scowl or a flinch, so Darcy counted that as net positive.  
  
“So you said you think the radiation is from an outside source?” Billy asked as they arrived at the site. Bruce nodded.  
  
“It’s in the soil, so it must be something underground. I’d like to do a perimeter search and take some more samples. I think if we walk further up the mountain or further west we could see some variability in the signature. Then we could work on triangulating the source.”  
  
“Do we have the equipment for that?” Billy laughed nervously. Darcy eyed him suspiciously.  
  
“Yeah, I brought some of my own with me just in case. It might take a day or two to collect the data, but we’ll get it done before our trip back. Pretty simple, really.”  
  
Billy laughed. Both Bruce and Darcy exchanged looks.  
  
“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Doctor Banner.” Billy began walking forward into thick of the trees.  
  
“And why is that, Billy?” Bruce asked with concern. Darcy heard a faint _roaring and humming_ sound in the distance.  
  
“My name _isn’t_ Billy. That _annoying bitch_ over there started calling me that for no reason!” Billy shrieked, pointing his finger at Darcy. She raised her brows at him. “And she wouldn’t be here, _ever_ , if she had just stayed put. We had one of our men coming to take her out this morning.”  
  
Before Darcy clicked everything into place, Billy continued. Though as he did, men and women in green uniforms pulled up behind him on four-wheeled all terrain vehicles and motorbikes.    
  
“I can’t let you do that, Doctor Banner, because you’ll find the base.” Billy waved his hand dismissively as he shrugged.  
  
“Hail HYDRA!”  
  
  



	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Violence and talk of suicide

**Trigger Warning: Violence and talk of suicide**

 

“Billy, I knew you were a gigantic douchebag, but you’ve really outdone yourself. Grats.” Darcy sighed as she watched the terrorist organization known as HYDRA form in front of them. Bruce tensed up beside her and without second thought, she slid her hand over his.  
  
“For the last time, my name isn’t Billy!”  
  
“Okay, Billy. Isn’t this the part where you yell at us and tell us you would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for us meddling kids?” She offered with a shrug.  
  
It wasn’t everyday you were faced down with an elite terrorist organization that dragged you out into the middle of nowhere, tried to assassinate you during breakfast time, and had your friend’s big ex get married all on the same day. And to think it was only seven in the morning. Darcy could tell it was going to be a long day.  
  
“You did some meddling, I’ll give you that, but for the most part, everything went according to plan. It doesn’t really matter that you’ll find the base. We have plenty, but we didn’t want you to leave just yet. See, what would have been better is if you had ran in circles chasing a faint radiation signature, but SHIELD had to wait until the last fucking minute to send the good doctor out. We called it in over and over that there was suspected radiation in the area and we asked for him, but they wouldn’t let him off his... leash.” Billy smirked. Darcy clenched her hand around Bruce’s.  
  
“Though I guess they’ll even let the rabid dog off the leash if he isn’t wanted. We didn’t expect this one to show up. She asks too many questions, and she knew something was wrong from the start.”  
  
“I didn’t actually. I just thought you seemed like a giant tool. My bad. Terrorist, asshat, such a big difference.” Darcy sighed.  
  
“Do you have a plan?” She muttered to Bruce as she inched towards him. She got no response. Slowly peeling her eyes away from HYDRA, she looked up at Bruce. His shoulders heaved as he breathed heavily. He clenched his eyes shut.  
  
“Keep talking. When I tell you... to run... run.” He growled through his teeth. Green flashed as he opened his eyes.  
  
“It’s going to be okay.” She said, though she didn’t sound thoroughly convinced. She let out a shaky breath as she watched Bruce come undone beside her. She swallowed bravely and turned to Billy, who was nearing her. Since the Chitauri had attacked, Darcy hadn’t been in immediate danger. Even then, she had been ushered into a safe place when the attack began. She never faced down an enemy. Even in Puente Antiguo, Thor and the Warriors Three and Sif had been there. She looked over Billy’s shoulder to see the HYDRA operatives armed with weaponry. Darcy forced herself to focus.  
  
“So SHIELD didn’t send Bruce until the wedding, but you’ve been trying to get him out here for months now. Why?” Darcy asked cautiously, stepping in front of Bruce. She faced Billy, quickly eying his belt.  
  
“Well I can’t give away all my secrets. But let’s just say we didn’t want the big guy ruining any of our plans. The others are strong, but this one...there’s no stopping him. He’s the ultimate killing machine.”  
  
“You’re planning an attack?”  
  
“Attack, take-over, it all sounds so hostile, don’t you think? But you’ll have to find out where. Well, Banner will. I guess after he takes out a few of my men and crawls back to whatever town he ends up in, he’ll read the papers.” Billy tilted his head to the side, gazing around Darcy to sneer at Bruce.  
  
“You sent Thor away.” Darcy accused. Billy nonchalantly nodded, seemingly impressed.  If Thor or Bruce had been sent away to the middle of nowhere, it was possible that the other Avengers had been too. Wherever HYDRA wanted to attack, they would have little opposition, or at least a delayed one. Who knows how long they had planned this -- but they were waiting on their final opposition to be sent away. Bruce Banner.  
  
“They’ll enjoy the vacation. Maybe the Asgardian will put on a valiant show for Foster, or maybe he’ll fail to save her.” Billy shrugged indifferently. Darcy glowered at him. No one fucked with Jane’s safety. She really hoped Thor was making his ancestors proud. She told herself to stay confident that they would be okay. Thor was strong and Jane was frightening when she was angry. No doubt she would take out a few HYDRA goons after learning her vacation was a fraud.  
  
“Thor will always be there for Jane.”  
  
“Are you jealous?” Billy smirked.  
  
“What? No.” Darcy shook her head. What an absurd question, why would she be jealous of Jane? Or... was it Thor? Or both of them? It was true that she envied them to an extent, but she was _happy_ for them! They were her best friends and they had a great thing going. There was no reason to be _jealous._ Darcy felt dizzy at the thought.  
  
“Are you sure? You had to _fight_ Banner for your chance to stay. But in the end, all you did was drive a wedge between you two with your false sense of heroism. Do you think he wants anything to do with you? I have to say, your theatrics were pretty hilarious. Sobbing and asking advice from the plaqued moose head about what to do with your _little crush._ ”  
  
“Ugh, plot twist.” Darcy muttered. Billy bugged the moose head? Strangely enough she felt a greater sense of betrayal from the moose head than from Billy. “You’re missing something though.” Darcy looked up at Billy, still blocking Bruce behind her. She could feel him shaking and breathing, trying to maintain control of himself.  
  
“What’s that?”  
  
“I’m Darcy BAMF Lewis.”  
  
“BAMF?” Billy asked. Leaning forward, Darcy unclipped the taser from Billy’s belt. She felt a rush of fear curl up and explode inside of her as she stepped back against Bruce and heard him growl. She watched Billy’s face devolve into shock and anger. She heard more HYDRA agents roar and roll up to the scene. But most of all, she felt incredibly pissed off that Billy had taken advantage of her, tried to embarrass her, ruin her weekend, kill her, and on top of that, used Bruce. The line was drawn. And in that split second, she knew this was going to feel _really good._ She aimed the taser right at Billy’s chest and fired it. It connected against his button up shirt and he shook and gurgled in pain before staggering to the side. Billy crumpled to the ground.  
  
“Bad Ass Mother Fucker.” Darcy tossed the empty cartridge down next to him. She turned back to Bruce.  
  
“Too cheesy? I thought it was pretty gr--” She didn’t even have time to revel in the moment before Bruce shoved her hard against the ground.  
  
“ ** _Run._** ” Darcy could hear the sound of fabric ripping and a churning, gurgling sound.  
  
The shouted commands of the HYDRA operatives blurred out as Darcy looked up to see Bruce doubled over, growling and grunting. His muscles pronounced as they grew and green spread across his body. He clenched his jaw as he looked over at her, eyes wide.  
  
“ ** _Run_**.” He repeated. She felt stunned and glued to the ground. She had seen the Hulk on TV of course, as well as in hundreds of SHIELD files. But she had never seen him transform literally on top of her. Wide-eyed, she barely got a chance to mumble his name before Bruce Banner disappeared.  
  
The Hulk exploded out of him in a flurry of green rage. The muscled monster launched himself over Darcy as he bounded right into the cluster of HYDRA agents. Some of the ones that had arrived later quickly turned and drove their bikes and four wheelers back into the thick of the forest. Others moved up the path on the outer edge of the mountains. Most didn’t make it, however.  
  
The Hulk picked up an ATV in motion and flung it out over the cliff, HYDRA agent included. Another man jumped off his bike right before the Hulk picked it up and swung it sideways, cutting through the air and cutting through the man who had abandoned it. Darcy had never seen battle. She had seen the Destroyer move through Puente Antiguo like death - buildings demolished and Thor crumpled before her eyes, but she had never seen anyone die. She had never seen bloodshed or murder or massacre. Bruce’s words flashed back into her mind. _I’m dangerous. I’ve killed people. You don’t know me._ Glued to the ground, she shook in absolute fright as the Hulk moved on in his rampage.  
  
Bodies flew everywhere as the Hulk moved from target to target, cutting through metal and earth like it was butter. When he grabbed men and threw them, or worse, punched and smashed their bodies into the ground, they bounced and broke like rag dolls. There were screams, cries, begs, sobs and chokes. Explosions and the sound of earth torn asunder ripped through the air, shaking the world beneath her with every stomp and roar of what was once Bruce Banner.  
  
The violence had exploded suddenly, and then it was gone. All that was left was a wasteland of broken and bloodied bodies and heaps of smoking metal. Bruce --no, the Hulk, bounded off into the forest to follow after those that had survived. He knocked over trees and crashed through them without any effort at all, and she heard the sound of more explosions. They grew distant.  
  
“Help,” A woman cried, her voice shaking. Darcy gasped as she could finally breathe again, slowly standing to her feet. She stepped over Billy as she made her way across the site. No more than thirty feet before her, was a woman trapped under a motorcycle. As Darcy neared, she could see that the agent was badly beaten. Stepping over people who were worse off than her -- maybe dead, she wasn’t sure, she cautiously stepped closer. Before she reached the fallen woman, Darcy paused to kneel down and pick up a handgun from the ground. She felt a slick substance in her hand -- blood. Shuddering, she chased the feeling away. Even though most agents were down or dead, they could still easily shoot her. She turned left and right, pointing the gun at the bodies as she neared the woman. Darcy hovered over her, holding the gun to her side.  
  
“Please,” The HYDRA operative gasped.  
  
“Help will come. Your boss or whatever will come get you. But my cell phone doesn’t work up here. I can’t --... I don’t know what I can do for you.” Darcy struggled. The woman bitterly laughed.  
  
“You really don’t understand. I don’t need help living. I need you to reach into my pocket. There’s a cyanide pill. Can you... put it in my mouth?”  
  
“What? No! N-No! I’m not helping you in... assisted suicide! God, that’s fucked up! Maybe you should have not become a super villain’s henchwomen or a terrorist, Jesus Christ.” Darcy felt sick, a queasy feeling tossing in the pit of her stomach. She was by no means ever trained for this. It infuriated her that this existed and even worse, she had no way of helping. This is what SHIELD did, every day -- they prevented _all this_ from happening to people. Or tried. The practical enslavement and exploitation of Bruce Banner... maybe it was a necessary evil. She hated it. All of this. Yet, even still, she knew that Bruce would eventually regain consciousness. He would be alone and he would blame himself for all of this. Darcy had to find him.  
  
“You’re right. I’ve killed people. Can you believe it?” She laughed nervously. “So I deserve this. Besides, I’ll suffer worse if I go back. They’ll--... This will be easier. Please.”  
  
Could Darcy really kill someone?  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would also like to note that the talk of assisted suicide is not a political commentary nor is it a statement, but an exploration of who is Darcy is. You'll see next chapter!


	10. Chapter 10

  
  
“Please,” The woman rasped.  
  
Darcy wavered, before slowly moving to kneel beside to her. She lifted the flap of her breast pocket, pulling out a small capsule. She examined it between her fingers. All she would have to do would be to slip it between the woman’s lips and in a few seconds it would be all over. It was so easy to die. It was harder to live.  
  
She closed it in her palm before turning and tossing it as far as she could. The woman protested, cursed at her, even. Darcy ignored her and moved to lift the bike off her. She let out a horrible, choking scream. Darcy’s eyes welled up with tears as she did it, before finally pulling it up and propped it up with its kickstand.  
  
“Go back to the cabin, use the laptop. Contact SHIELD and turn yourself in. They’ll keep you safe. Take my phone.” Darcy pulled her phone from her pocket and handed it to the woman after watching her struggle to her feet. Darcy sucked in a deep breath.  
  
“Take a four wheeler. The path is straightforward -- just go around the bend and down the mountain. You might want to grab a gun because there was some sort of dude trying to kill me before breakfast. You know, general... HYDRA shenanigans. If you live, thank me later or something.” Darcy mumbled. She felt ashamed for calling her out on her misdeeds. She knew that HYDRA most likely exploited her in recruitment. They had an ever-growing pool of people to pluck from. They kidnapped, exploited, and bribed the poor, the needy, and the desperate. “What’s in that direction?” Darcy pointed to the cleared and damaged path that Bruce had caused.  
  
“... The base. It’s over fifteen miles out. You’ll go across, then down the mountain, then back up and around. It’s underground, but it’s heavily guarded. They have advanced weaponry that might take down the Hulk, definitely a human.”  
  
“Advanced weaponry, heavily guarded secret base stuff, got it. Thanks.” Darcy wiped the gun off on her jeans before tucking it behind her. She kicked off the kickstand and swung her leg over the bike. She revved it up and looked towards the cleared path. She glanced back at the war torn scene before her. This is what Bruce did -- or the Hulk. At this point, Darcy wasn’t even sure. All she knew was that she needed to find him. It wasn’t so much as a thought as much as a tugging feeling deep in her chest. She felt fear, overwhelming, horrible fear and unimaginable disgust, but what she felt about Bruce quelled it. It didn’t quell all the horror that she had experienced this morning, but it helped. It was something, and she cherished it.  
  
“Why are you chasing after him, anyway? He’s a monster. ...Who _are_ you?” The woman stood, gaining her bearings. Darcy looked over to her. If she hadn’t thrown the cyanide capsule, she would have been dead. The fragility of life was terrifying. She revved the motorbike.  
  
“I’m his friend.” Darcy turned her head to face the woman. She could hear her say _good luck_ before Darcy drove off. Not too long after entering the thick of the forest, did she hear a gunshot.  
  
 *****  
  
Screams and gunshots filled the concrete halls. Steel doors came crashing down, but even those did not stop him. He tore through them like paper, tossing them behind him as he rampaged through the facility. Everything in his vision was a blur, blocked out by the overwhelming rage and fury. Even people that begged and ran were not spared by him. He smashed everything in sight, object, structure, or person until there was nothing left. There were always more HYDRA agents, more weapons, more violence, more death, and so he rose up to meet their every challenge.  
  
The agents fired a brilliantly white laser at him that seared and cut at his skin. He bellowed and roared at them before slamming into them at full speed. Even as his skin burned, and his wounds bled, nothing would stop him. His mind was a dark and violent tangle of anger and he took every advantage of lashing it out. Though no thought was coherent, flashes of words and images moved through what was left of his war-torn mind.  
  
A woman. A woman he used to love. He wants her to have a life -- a life that Bruce Banner couldn’t give her. They tried. God, did they try. A small apartment. Work. Soft kisses. Anger. Destruction. South America. Africa. India. Natasha Romanova and a cell phone. The tesseract -- Loki. New York in so much destruction. SHIELD -- confinement, solitude, a distorted sense of normalcy. Bruce Banner doesn’t understand what is normal or not. Running was all he felt for such a long time.  
  
A girl. She smiles at him in the office. Drawings in pink marker on notes, delivered in the lab. Coulson explains a new project. Flight. Cabin. Nail polish. Friendship -- happiness, hope, relief. Feelings that hadn’t been felt for god knows who long. She is sweet, funny, clever. He wants to trust her. Wedding -- betrayal, defeat, pain. A woman. No. A girl. No. Her. Tears, struggle, acceptance. Running. A text message. Hope. So much hope from someone so small, so breakable, so easily taken from him. HYDRA. He tells himself he deserves nothing, especially not her. She is threatened and guns are raised. She looks up to him in fear and his last thought is oh god, I want to deserve her. The monster takes control and it’s all over.  
  
These thoughts sent him into a spiraling fit of rage, over and over and over again. Pain, confusion, desperation overwhelmed him until they exploded in violence, into monstrosity, into the Incredible Hulk.  
  
 *****  
  
Thanks to Bruce, the forest was completely cleared and decimated. The bike wobbled as it moved over the rocky terrain and Darcy found that though the forest was beyond wrecked, it actually prevented her from easily navigating it. She tried to push the speed of the bike as much as she could, but as she rounded the fallen foliage, it became increasingly difficult to maintain it.  The forest cleared after a few miles, but it became more and more rocky. The incline up the mountain proved difficult, and she wondered if she was even going the right way. Without a clear path of destruction, she wasn’t sure. Bruce could have gone anywhere once he got through the brush. It was only when she heard a roar that echoed through the mountains, that she was sure he was still nearby. She followed the direction that the woman had pointed out for her. She felt her chest tighten up at the thought of her.  
  
Everything went to hell so fast -- Bruce, HYDRA, Billy, the Hulk, the aftermath. So much destruction, pain, and death had been caused so easily and so quickly. She was right in the middle of it and nothing she could have done could have stopped it. If she hadn’t left to chase after Bruce, someone would have killed her. If the Hulk had made one wrong move as he tossed people around, she could have gotten hurt. And yet she escaped without a scratch while so many others were left irrevocably broken. Bruce was right when he said she didn’t know him or know what he was capable of. She had never experienced this. Tears welled up in her eyes and though she quickly wiped them away, she burst out into an uncontrollable sob.  
  
Forced to stop the bike or risk an accident, she planted her feet on the ground to balance herself. Her shoulders shook as she wept, body curling up against the helm of the bike. There were no stopping the tears now. She cried and shook and gasped and screamed as her body felt the full force of what she was made to endure. How long had Bruce been doing this? How long had he been subject to both giving and receiving the threat of death? Darcy wasn’t sure how someone could bear it. It was terrifying, and she wanted to run. She could get on the bike and just go -- far from Hydra, Bruce and his deadly repertoire, or SHIELD. Maybe that was the selfish choice, or maybe the real selfishness was that she had that choice and would waste it on cowardice. Bruce never had a choice. He never chose to become what he did, or join SHIELD, or lose everything he once loved. If she rode away now, she would be slapping that right back in his face and he would lose one more thing he didn’t think he deserved. Her.  
  
“I’m running out of time.” Her voice cracked as she dried her tears. This wasn’t a misguided sense of showing up to save the day, nor was it to fix his. Bruce didn’t need her. Even if he never saw her again, she was sure it would suck. But, he would live on, as he always had. Bruce wasn’t the only one who had been running from their problems. This whole weekend Darcy had been looking for absolution. She had run from her break-up when she signed up for her internship with Jane. When she heard Bruce was being sent away from Betty Ross, she went not only because she felt sorry for Bruce, but sorry for herself. As much as she come to care about Bruce, she cared more about herself. It wasn’t a real self love, however, but a sense that she could somehow undo her childish reactions by solving someone’s problems for them. Darcy slowly breathed in, then out, before she started the bike back up and moved up the mountain. She knew she wouldn’t be able to fix everything that she didn’t like about herself this instant, but she could start with this. With what she owed Bruce, but also what she owed herself. The bike puttered up the mountain, unstopped by the terrain.  
  
Darcy threw down the bike as she reached the base. The path of destruction resumed, and the entire area was reduced to a smoking pile of rubble. Darcy pulled the gun from her belt as she navigated around the broken bodies and heaps of metal and vehicles. The base seemed like a low-lying singular level concrete ward, no bigger than a convenience store. There was no one conscious or seemingly coherent enough to do anything more than twitch and groan on the ground. She neared the open door of the facility and peered in. The room was completely empty except for a craterous hole in the center. Darcy looked above her and saw an equally large gap in the shambling remainder of the ceiling. Darcy sucked in a breath and walked in to peer over the edge.  
  
If there had been an elevator shaft, there was nothing left of it. Lights flickered on and off at the bottom of the pit, or whatever was left of the underground facility. It was clear that Bruce had been here, but he was clearly no longer here. She sighed and walked back out of the room, back into the open field. Pacing across it, she came to the mountain’s edge, looking down at the river that winded below. If she was ten miles west of their cabin, that meant Whitecreek was nearly thirty miles away. There was no town in sight from this side of the mountain. If Bruce was nowhere to be found, she was truly in the middle of nowhere.  
  
A faint rumbling sound echoed through the mountains. It was neither the sound of the ATVs or the motorbikes, nor was it the roar of the Hulk. Whatever it was, was nearing. Darcy held up her gun as she looked around. The whooping rumbling continued and grew louder before it exploded out over the opposing mountainside. The helicopter-like aircraft immediately fired shots up the cliff face beneath her. Darcy screamed as she literally tossed her gun at the aircraft as it neared, watching it fly about twenty feet before dwindling down the ravine. Well, so much for that.  
  
As she turned and ran, the thundering sound of the aircraft was met by another -- Bruce. The Hulk bounded out of the facility, the concrete building shattering in a explosion of concrete and metal. Darcy ducked, covering her head with her arm. He landed and roared, seemingly unthreatened by the barrage of bullets tearing up the ground in a path straight for Bruce. The Hulk paused as soon as he spotted Darcy. She tensed up immediately, eyes wide in fear. No matter how much she repeated the mantra that it was Bruce, it did nothing. It did even less as he began to run straight for her.  
Frozen in place, Darcy watched as the Hulk stampeded right in her direction. She screamed as he jumped, his giant green hand curling into a fist.  
  
He bounded right over her, using the edge of the cliff face to bounce off. He flew through the air, landing on the aircraft to punch right through it. The aircraft spun in circles as it slowly descended, continuously being beaten to a pulp by the Hulk. Darcy ran to the cliff’s edge to watch Bruce grab ahold of the tail and fling the entire craft into the face of the opposing cliff. Digging his fists into the rocks he pulled himself up the rocky wall, before pushing himself off and flying through the air. Darcy stepped back just as he landed with a resounding crash before her.  
  
He loomed over her and let out an incredible roar. She stepped back again, looking up at the green behemoth before her. He fixed his eyes on her intently before slowly wrapping an arm around her. She jumped and yelped at the sudden content but as she looked up at him, she could see his facial features relaxed, the rage and tension draining from him. She gave in as she fell back against his hand, her tired and weariness overcoming her.    
  
“Darcy...friend.” He gruffed. Tears threatened to fall again as Darcy looked up at him. She nodded and let out a relieved laugh. That big arm scooped her up close to his chest and she moved to wrap her arms around his neck-- or she tried, at least.  
  
“Yes!” She cried as she squeezed him tightly. “Please don’t smash me, big guy. I want to be your friend so badly, you have no idea.” She laughed through her tears once more as his giant hand patted her back. He let out a rough, rumbling laugh that vibrated through his chest.

“Safe now.” He grumbled and stood up straight, lifting her small body clear off the ground. She could hear the ground crack and rumble under his weight.  
  
“Safe now.” She whispered.  
  
She obviously spoke too soon as the ground disappeared beneath them, rock crackling and giving way. Bruce tensed up again and Darcy screamed as they barreled down off the cliff face. He covered her in his arms as they fell and splashed into the river below them. Though she didn’t bear any damage from the fall, she found herself crushed in the Hulk’s arms as she tossed and turned under the water. They both tangled and rolled with the strong current of the water until he finally let go, her body flailing to reach the surface. She felt herself slam into something and everything faded to black.


	11. Chapter 11

_“I’m glad you took the time to see me. I know you’re busy, especially with finals coming up.”  He ran his hand through his dark, short curls and let out a great sigh before laughing. She didn’t feel like laughing. She had read the facebook updates, and she knew what was coming, but he was persistent about meeting up with her. She only half-smiled and nodded impassively, waiting for him to continue._  
  
 _“Can’t you just be happy for me, Darce?” He asked, sighing. He threw his hands down around himself as he slumped._  
 __  
“Oh, my bad. Let me just explode into sunshine and glitter and turn into a unicorn because you came to tell me you were getting married. We broke up like... two months ago.” Darcy smacked her hands against her forehead.  
  
 _“Don’t...do this. You’re my friend. I never wronged you -- It was your idea to break up! Besides, she’s awesome. If you gave her a chance, you would see! You would like her, she’s just like you.”_  
  
 _“Ohh, awesome. I get to see how you virtually replaced me with Darcy version 2.0 who lives closer. I’m excited for you, Will. I really am, but, I don’t want to be. It’s too weird for me, even if you are my friend. I’m sorry if that makes me some kind of huge jerk.”_  
  
 _Will paused before pulling a small envelope from his bag. He hesitated as he flipped it over in his hands before extending it to her. “Here.”_  
  
 _She took it in her hands and flipped it open. She knew what it was, but she couldn’t stop herself from looking at it. She inched the small vanilla colored card with gold etched writing. She pushed it back into the envelope and handed it back. Will paused and shook his head, pushing it back towards her._  
  
 _She didn’t know why he was doing this to her. If anything, it felt like deliberate sadism. Will was genuinely good though, and she was sure if he knew how much this bothered her that he would have let it go. There was no way she was going to suck up her pride and watch a girl she had never met walk down the aisle to marry him though. There was no way._  
  
 _“Why?” She mumbled. She wished she had a clever retort -- a sarcastic mumble, an ironic phrase, a witty remark, but she had nothing. A numbed down ‘Why?’ was all she could give. Everything felt sucked away from her. This negative feeling, this drowned out sense of nothingness would come to haunt her again and again and again._  
  
 _“You’re like my good luck charm. If you hadn’t broken up with me, I would have never met her. So really, I should be thanking you.” Will smiled and rubbed her shoulder as she stared down at the envelope in between her hands._  
  
 _“You’re welcome.” She mumbled before being taken up in her last hug from him._  
  
 *****  
  
 _“Political science, huh?” The woman placed her hands on her hips as she walked a circle around Darcy. “You know, I can work with that. Jane Foster, Ph.D. student.” Jane extended her hand. “We’ll be researching and employing theory and data based on the Rosen-Einstein bridge theory.”_  
  
Darcy shook Jane’s hand. “Darcy Lewis, undergrad. I have no idea what you said but I’m pro at making copies and coffee, so we’re good, right?”  
  
Jane laughed. “Yep. Who’s the guy?”  
 __  
“Sorry?”  
  
 _“Who volunteers to spend their summer in the middle of nowhere, in a field you don’t know anything about? It’s definitely a guy. Or a girl. I don’t judge, it’s cool.” Jane shrugged._  
  
 _“A guy. I take it you’re an expert on...” Darcy waved her hand to the side._  
 __  
“Getting dumped. Yep. Hey, it is what it is, you know? Besides, I have a ton of work to do. I don’t have time for guys. No love this summer, just science!” She thrust her fist into the air.  
  
 _“Science!” Darcy repeated the motion with vigor. Jane smiled at her._  
  
 *****  
  
 _“What happened to no love, just science?” Darcy murmured slyly over Jane’s shoulder as she walked around their small table. She looked up at Thor who spun a spatula around a skillet of eggs. He turned and stared right atJane, flashing that charming and boyish smile._  
  
 _Darcy joined her, wishing the men in black hadn't jacked her iPod. She had just downloaded like, thirty songs on there. It would have been convenient to drown out Jane’s canoodling with Thor._  
  
 _“Thor is... science.” Jane mumbled into her coffee as she brought it to her lips and looked ahead at the demi-god in their kitchen._  
 __  
“Uh-huh.” Darcy mumbled, trying not to let her bitterness show. This internship was supposed to be her excursion from nice guys with pretty smiles.  
 _“Listen, Darce. If a guy ever falls out of the sky and saves your sanity, you get that. You hear me? I’m not saying so we can go on double dates, but because you deserve it.”_  
 __  
“If I ever find a dude falling from the sky, I’ll let you know.”  
  
 _“Love looks like science.” Jane hummed as she eyed Thor._  
  
 _“And Muscles.” Darcy added._  
  
 *****  
  
 _“Lewis, this is Doctor Banner. Doctor Banner, our new assistant in the office, Darcy Lewis.” Coulson opened the door and waved to Bruce. Darcy repeated the motion. Bruce hardly seemed to notice, absorbed in his work until he glanced up at her. He blinked before he smiled._  
 __  
“Ah, I think we met before. Good morning, Miss Lewis.”  
  
 _“Sup, doc?” Darcy smiled and waved her fingers at him._  
  
“Lewis--” Coulson started with a sigh.  
  
“It’s fine. I don’t mind.” Bruce chuckled from his desk. He stole another glance at her as she was ushered out of the room and told not to touch anything.  
 _  
_ *****  
  
 _“Montana? There’s nothing in Montana.” Darcy flipped through the file once Coulson had handed it to her. She flipped through photos of Bruce, the Hulk, photos of a cabin and rolling forests and mountains. Another  photo was of a woman, an incredibly beautiful one, holding hands with a man. Darcy flipped the photo to the side to see the last few: Her arms wrapped around Bruce Banner’s neck as his hands grasped each side of her face, his forehead pressed to hers. In another, he kissed her passionately. In the next, she walked away from him, shoulders hunched as tears streamed down her face. The last was Bruce, standing alone._  
  
 _“Exactly.” Coulson replied, handing her a small envelope. Though the letter was light, the same dreaded weight returned from nearly two years ago. She inched it open,and sure enough, was Coulson’s invitation to the wedding._  
  
 _“Who is she?”  She handed the invitation back. She wanted to get it out of her hands as fast as she could. There were too many memories attached to being handed a wedding invitation._  
  
 _“Betty Ross. She’s marrying an agent from STRIKE.”_  
  
“Strike?”  
  
“Special Tactics Response for International Key Emergencies.”  
  
 _“Wow, you guys are neeerrrrrrds.”_  
  
Coulson rolled his eyes at her. “Take it up with London. Anyways, Doctor Betty Ross is having her wedding, this weekend. Doctor Banner used to be close to her. Very close. So by request he’s being sent out for the weekend. He doesn’t know, and I need you to accompany him.”  
  
Darcy felt like the air was sucked out of her as she flipped back to the photo of them engaging in a passionate kiss.  
  
“When was this?”  
  
“That? Years ago, before he went on the run. The government wasn’t being easy on him, I’m sure you remember the news. Then he ran. He tried to take her with him, but she had obligations here. Or maybe she tried to go with him and he wouldn’t let her. After he left the country, their communications were sent less and less until finally he was alone.  We don’t get too personal in our employees lives.” Coulson gathered the papers and photos away from her.  
  
 _“No? Only when you try to control them?” Darcy shot back. Coulson paused and breathed in and out deeply._  
 __  
“I’ll ask another agent.” He said finally, turning to walk out the door. Darcy moved around the desk quickly.  
  
 _“No, wait! I want to do it. Let me. Please.” She looked down at the picture of Bruce standing alone._  
  
 _“You leave tomorrow morning. Try not to get into any trouble.”_  
  
“You know me.”  
  
 ***** _  
  
_Everything hurt. Not in an emotional or spiritual sense, though she was sure there would be plenty of that later, but in a physical _how-am-I-still-alive_ sort of way. As she looked up, she could see the setting sun, shades of purple and orange being obscured by a thick cloud cover. She sighed and began to stir. As she propped herself up on her elbows, she could see that she lay on a riverbank, her legs under inches of the soft current. She was soaking wet and as she sat up straight, her head spun.  
  
Darcy wearily glanced up towards the cliffs above them, seeing no sign of the HYDRA base or the destruction of the aircraft. She crawled out of the shallow water and further up the rocky bank before slowly moving to stand on her feet. She rocked from side to side before falling. She was caught.  
  
“Careful.” Bruce said behind her, gently pulling her close to him. There was so much to say, so much to ask, and yet the warmth emanating from him soothed her. Her face was pressed against his unclothed chest, his body hair tickling at her cheek. Without thought, she rubbed her face against him.  
  
“I’m always careful.” She mumbled, nearly incoherent.  
  
“You’re a terrible liar, Darcy.” Bruce said warmly. “Come on.” He slowly pulled her back and placed his hand in hers, leading her down the riverside. Darcy looked down at her feet slowly moving one foot in front of the other. Her body seemed to move on its own. Maybe she was in shock or maybe she was just tired. Her shoes squashed every time she set her foot down. Of course Bruce was barefoot, wearing only khaki shorts that hung off his waist. He didn’t seem to mind stepping on the pebbled riverbank.    
  
“I’m sorry I didn’t wake you sooner. I pulled you out the river, but I couldn’t carry you all the way to the cave.” He explained.  
  
“ _Cave_? Where are we?”  
  
“No idea.”  
  
Darcy muttered a ‘Huh’ before squeezing his hand tightly. She felt dizzy and overwhelmed and everything felt incredibly toned down and distant. She had survived a terrorist attack, fallen off a cliff, hugged the world’s most dangerous being, and was walking hand in hand with a half naked supergenius in the lost wilderness of the midwest.  
  
“Am I alive?” Darcy blinked before looking over to Bruce, who had paused to turn to her. He gave a half-smile.  
  
“You’re alive, but you’ve got some scrapes. You must have hit your head and it’s amazing you didn’t drown. You washed up not too far from where I woke up and I pulled you out. You didn’t even need CPR. I think all things considered, you’re lucky.”  
  
“Mm, yeah, I feel lucky.” Darcy mumbled. She pressed her fingers to her head, feeling a surge of pain move through her. She hissed and tensed up, pulling her hand down to look at her bloodied fingers.  
  
“I’m sorry.” Bruce apologized. Darcy didn’t know what for, but with Bruce it could have been anything. Sorry for hulking out, sorry for saving your life, sorry you have a bump on your head, sorry for apologizing.  
  
“‘Tis but a scratch.” Darcy wiped her hand off on her thigh. It definitely was more than a scratch and it definitely worried her, but she didn’t want to worry him. She was sure he had enough worries. Bruce chuckled and she felt relieved.  
  
“So are you a fan of Monty Python or my well-timed and impeccable sense of humor?” She asked.  
  
“Can I not be both?” He looked to her and smiled. Darcy paused. Yesterday night she was screaming and crying at him, this morning, they fought for their lives. Despite her head injury she moved to throw her arms around him. She could feel him suck in a deep breath before his arms wrapped around her back and hugged her close. She let out a sigh before nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck.  
  
“I’m sorry.” They both simultaneously. She felt the rumble of Bruce’s laughter against her chest. He was so incredibly warm. Darcy didn’t know what to say next. She just wanted to stay this way.  
  
“You came looking for me.” Bruce said quietly, his brows drawing together. “Why? You know -- You saw what I’m capable of.” The shame in his voice was palpable.  
  
“Yeah. I did.” Darcy relaxed against him. “But I wanted to see you again. That and you sort of left me hanging out with a bunch of HYDRA goons. Can I explain everything when I’m not feeling so dizzy? I don’t want to puke on you.” She sighed.  
  
“Yeah.” He breathed as he ran his hands down her back.  
  
“Can we stay like this for a little while longer?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“Thank you, Bruce.”  
  
“You’re welcome Darcy.”


	12. Chapter 12

“Oh my god, cave scene.” Darcy mumbled as she stood at the mouth of the cave, peering inward. Bruce didn’t get the reference, only looking to her for explanation. She waved it away, not wanting to explain it. The cave was shallow, and small, barely a nook inside the cliff face. It began to rain on their walk to the cave, but the two were already soaked from the river.  
  
“We’ll stay here until the morning. Then we’ll need to gain ground to have SHIELD find us.” He explained as they entered.  
  
“How will they?” They didn’t have cell phones and they were miles away from the cabin. They weren’t even close to the HYDRA base at this point. Darcy hobbled as she struggled to pull her boots off, tossing them to the mouth of the cave.  
  
“Ah, well.” Bruce started nervously. “I wear a tracker. When the other guy comes out, it snaps and sends an alert to SHIELD with the GPS coordinates. It’s so they can track the mess and find me.” He sighed. “They’ll find the base, and from there, hopefully they stick around long enough to find us.”  
  
“We’ll have to give whoever thought of that one a high-five then. Not that -- not that tracking and stalking you is cool, but I’d rather not camp out without food and stay sopping wet with a head injury.”  
  
“It was my idea, actually. It wasn’t for my benefit. If there was ever an emergency, they could form an response team and try to take me down or divert the other guy’s attention before people could be hurt.” He sighed as he sat down against the back of the cave. Darcy sat down beside him.  
  
“You care about people so much. I wish you’d give yourself a tiny bit more credit.”  
  
“I thought about leaving.” He said.  
  
“Leaving where?”  
  
“I don’t know. I thought about pulling you from the river as much as I could and then taking off. Every time this happens, I just feel like I need to get out.”  
  
“Every time what happens?” Darcy asked, purposely avoiding calling him out on the fact that he almost stranded her in the middle of nowhere. Bruce swallowed and she looked up at him. He avoided her gaze, looking out to the rainfall.  
  
“Whenever I get close to someone. I’m just a grenade. A trigger is pulled and I explode, and the shrapnel flies everywhere and people are hurt. That’s what I do. I hurt people.”  
  
Darcy pushed her shoulder against his. “If it weren’t for your trigger going off, I would have died today. You saved my life, Bruce. You’re an amazing man. So the fact that I bumped by head and got rained on really isn’t such a big deal. This wasn’t your fault. It was HYDRA’s. And I’m glad you didn’t just get up and leave, especially after I went looking for you. I would have been seriously pissed off.”  
  
He was quiet, only letting out a soft snort in response.  
  
“Billy said they were separating the Avengers for something this weekend. Thor and Jane are in Hawaii, we’re here. What do you think they lured Cap away with?”  
  
“Patriotism.” Bruce chuckled. Darcy laughed.  
  
“Eagles.” She added.  
  
“Freedom.” The two laughed again. Darcy shifted her postured, leaning against his shoulder. His body was so warm. Bruce didn’t seem to mind, in fact, he let out a content sigh at the gesture.  
  
“Are you worried? About whatever HYDRA’s up to?” Darcy peeked over to look at his face. He definitely looked worried. “If it’s about her, you know, she’s probably on her honeymoon. I bet she’s fine.”  
  
“Right.” He sighed. Darcy couldn’t veer away from the subject. It seemed almost looming, or haunting. It demanded attention and resolution.  
  
“Sorry about the wedding and everything. And not telling you. I could have said something.”  
  
“It’s okay, Darcy. I know you were just doing your job.” Bruce wrung his hands together.  
  
“Excuse me if I’d rather not go down in history as someone who was just doing their job. HYDRA agents were just doing their job. There was this woman-- I thought she would go back to the cabin and get help. But... I don’t know now.” She sucked in a deep breath. “But I said I had my own reasons for coming this weekend.”  
  
Bruce didn’t say anything. She knew she had to explain herself, but she didn’t want him to hate her for it. Somehow, chasing the Hulk through the wilderness felt easier in retrospect. She sat up straight, distancing herself from him. She pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.  
  
“When Coulson came to me with the mission, he showed me your file. The one of you and Betty. At the time, I wasn’t even thinking how rude it was to be looking at it. I saw the wedding invitation and I couldn’t stop thinking about the time my ex-boyfriend got married. It was the whole reason why I signed up for Jane’s internship. I was running from my problems, and I guess I thought if I could have a do-over, I would have never wanted to be handed that invitation. It was so wrong of me to be so assuming. No one ever asked you what you wanted, and I played a part in that. And I am so, so, sorry. And if you could forgive me, or at least not hate me, that would be awesome.” Darcy slumped forward, burying her face against her knees. She felt his arm wrap around her shoulders, pulling her close.  
  
“It seems like I’m not the only one with the instinct to run.” He said softly. Darcy shook her head.  
  
“I don’t want to run anymore. The whole Will thing was dumb. I should have sucked it up and gone. He was my friend.”  
  
“Will?”  
  
“My ex. We met at Culver, but he dropped out.  He wasn’t dumb or anything, he was just the artsy type that wanted to stick it to the man. Well that, and he didn’t want to pay for rising tuition costs, which sounds like a more legit reason if you ask me. But when he moved back home, there was a lot of distance. We tried to make it work, but it was hard. I broke up with him, and he met this girl right after, and they got married a few months later. His name is Will, but his wife calls him Billy.”  
  
“You named Billy after your ex?” Bruce chuckled.  
  
“After my ex’s significant other’s interpretation of my ex.” Darcy corrected.  
  
“Poor guy, never stood a chance. Not your Billy, uh, HYDRA Billy. You really did take him down.”  
  
“Yeah, I did.” Darcy hummed with pride. She clutched her legs closer to her chest as she shivered. Even if it was summer, they were at high altitude, and the sun had set. Bruce was dry, but her wet clothes clung to her.  
  
“I’m sorry for exploding on you at the cabin. I thought I understood your circumstances by comparing them to my own, but you’ve had enough of people telling you what to do. So, I really am sorry.” She added. “About everything.” She let out a shaky breath after shivering. Bruce’s hand instinctively moved up and down her arm. She closed her eyes as she leaned back and rest against his shoulder.  
  
“I’m not upset at you for that. SHIELD does what they have to do to keep people safe. I just wish they had informed me of it instead of keeping it a secret. I would have come willingly, though I don’t know if it was necessary from them to send you.”  
  
Darcy shook her head. “I’m glad I came. I mean, this weekend has been painful. And horrifying. But I realized what I was made of, and what I’m capable of. I wanted to be your friend, but if I hadn’t experienced what I did this weekend, I don’t know if I would have been fit to be anything for you, or anything for myself. I was freaked out beyond all belief, but I was strong. So I’m glad you didn’t send me home and I’m glad you came. It must be hard to accept that, but...” She nuzzled her head against the crook of his neck. She could feel his chest move as he breathed out.  
  
“I want to.” He said quietly. “I want to accept it. I guess... I guess I could try.”  
  
Darcy smiled and turned to quickly kiss him on the cheek. “You rock, Bruce Banner.”  
  
She snuggled up to him, the warmth from his body soothing her. It was quiet then, as the two curled up and watched the rain fall. Thunder cracked and lightning flashed, illuminating the hollow of the cave. Bruce let out a curious hum that caught Darcy’s attention.  
  
“What is it?”  
  
“Ah, nothing.”  
  
“Dude, not cool.”  Darcy chastised.  
  
“Well, I was just thinking. This isn’t the first time I’ve been stuck in the middle of nowhere, in a cave, in the mountains, with someone else.” He explained. Darcy blinked, looking up at him as she leaned against him.  
  
“Is this a regular thing for you?”  
  
“Well, no. Uh, it was more than a few years ago. We were hiding... Betty and I. It was raining, and it was her and the other guy. Besides the Avengers, you and Betty are the only ones he’s reacted positively to. Or at least not hurt on purpose.” He ran his free hand through his damp hair.  
  
“Are you still in love with her?” Darcy blurted out. She didn’t even think about saying it, instead it just impulsively fell out into existence. She felt Bruce tense up beside her and she was ready to change the subject when he spoke up.  
  
“Yes and no.”  He said.  
  
“Well... that doesn’t answer my question.” She sighed, hoping that Bruce couldn’t feel how warm her face was. Bruce laughed.  
  
“Betty is, and will always be, the first woman I loved. There’s no getting around that. She was a great influence on my life, and she fought for me. She really... did. I was scared though. Scared for myself, scared for her, and I ran. There are things I can’t take back. Some days, I wish I could, but other days, I understand that I have to move on. I’m not _in love_ with her, if that’s what you’re asking. I’m glad she found someone that she can have a stable and reliable relationship with. I was never what she needed. I’ve... accepted that. I knew she was engaged, but I had no idea the wedding was this weekend. I’m... I’m, you know, happy for her.”  
  
Darcy thought on his words. A part of her felt the slightest pang of jealousy. She knew it was insecurity, but a part of it was envy. Betty had been able to spend time with him, grow with him, learn with him and inspire him. He would surrender at least a part of himself to her, because he loved her. Though even Bruce ran, in the end. Darcy thought about how hard it must have been on _her_. How frustrating was it to watch Bruce endlessly beat himself up over things he lacked control over. How much had it hurt when Bruce left her, again, and again, promising her she was better off without him?  
  
“Darcy... can I ask you what you’re thinking?” He asked cautiously, turning to face her. Darcy slumped forward, her head against his chest. She reached up and wrapped her arms around him, clinging close to him.  
  
“I’m afraid.” She murmured.  
  
“I can take care of HYDRA if they come for us.”  
  
“That’s not it.” She sighed.  
  
“Oh... what are you scared of, Darcy?”  
  
“You running. I meant it when I said we were friends, I just want to be in your life, somehow. I’m worried you’ll think you’ll hurt me, that I’m just some bystander to your grenade theory. I don’t want you to go anywhere. It’s so selfish, but I want you to stay.”  
  
Bruce was quiet as his hands slowly traced up and down her back.  
  
“I’m not planning on going anywhere, not for a while anyways. People need the other guy.”He explained. Darcy’s head tilted up.  
  
“No, people need you. They need Bruce Banner. There’s a part of you that’s horrifying, I know, but people like you for _you._ Maybe they don’t need you, but they want you. Isn’t being wanted and cared for enough?”  
  
Bruce paused, looking down at her with a soft smile. He glanced away nervously, as he smirked before returning her gaze. “Are you saying you like me, Darcy?”  
  
“I like you. You’re frustrating and ridiculous and kind of scary, but I like you.” She said, her voice resolute. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers. His nose brushed up against hers and she could feel his breath on her lips.  
  
“You’re a good friend. I like you, too.”  
  
“That’s not what I meant.” Darcy groaned, beginning to pull back from his body.  
  
“I know what you meant.” He said in a hushed tone as he moved his hands across her back. “You’re nothing short of amazing, Darcy Lewis. You don’t give yourself enough credit, either. You’re observant, smart, funny, tenacious, brave, kind. You’re not hard on yourself if you make a mistake. When I’m around you, I want to run, only because the last thing I want to do is hurt you. When HYDRA showed up, I was mad-- but, I was also in awe of you. When I transform, it’s... it’s all-consuming and it feels like there’s nothing left of me. But for some reason, I thought of you and your friendship, your... existence was there, in my head. You existed when I didn’t even think I did. When the other guy saw you, I can remember seeing you and feeling so relieved you were alive. But then I realize you came for me. You didn’t want to give up on me when I wanted to give up on myself. I was still out of control, but I felt centered and grounded. You’re like gravity and that makes me want to stay. Right here.” He opened his eyes and their gaze met.  
  
The gaze felt nothing less than magnetic. Bruce was right -- it was like gravity, drawing them closer. Darcy felt warmth wash over her as she was slowly pulled close. His hand pulled away from her back to rest on her cheek, his thumb brushing the hair from her face. She glanced down at his lips as she slowly tilted her head. Their lips were about to meet when a loud swooshing sound was heard above them. They both pulled back from their embrace as they saw Phil Coulson stand at the foot of the cave. He coughed before straightening his back. A helicopter slowly descended behind him.  
  
“Doctor Banner, Miss Lewis. You’re needed in New York.”  
  
“Not cool, Coulson. Not cool!”  
  



	13. Chapter 13

  
They almost kissed. _So close!_ That was the thought at the forefront of Darcy’s mind as she sat in the helicopter. She leaned against the window and watched the mountainside disappear beneath her. The cliff side where Bruce had pet Darcy’s cheek and told her _You’re like gravity_ slowly faded away beneath her. She had felt his body radiate heat and felt the warmth of his breath on her lips. The thought was interrupted by another warmth, Bruce’s hand moving over hers. She blinked and turned to him to see him smile at her. Darcy liked Bruce. and _Bruce liked her back._  
  
“Hey.” She said softly, moving to scoot next to him.  
  
“Hey.” He responded, glancing down at their hands together. Darcy looked down between them to see Bruce gently hold her hand. His thumb massaged against her palm as his fingers wrapped around hers. She wanted to toss her arms around him.  
  
Coulson cleared his throat and Bruce quickly retracted his hand.  
  
“If it weren’t for the HYDRA operative that turned herself in, we wouldn’t have found you so soon. She gave us the coordinates of their base and where to find another. We’ll have teams clearing it up this week and hauling the remaining survivors in for questioning.”  
  
“She’s alive?” Darcy asked, surprised. She had heard a gunshot and assumed the worst.  
  
Coulson nodded. “She sustained additional injury between the site and the cabin, but she’s alive and in stable condition. We secured some interesting technology as well as additional plans that HYDRA has been keeping. We know of an eventual attack, though we have no idea where. Because of her default on HYDRA, we’ve offered her a position at SHIELD. You can thank her when we get back to base.”  
  
“What, that’s awesome! You might be redeeming yourself for your horrible transactions and elite cockblocking skills yet, Phil Coulson.” Darcy smirked, looking over to Bruce, who was stifling a laugh. She glanced up towards Coulson who impassively looked away, the smallest hint of amusement on his features. When the pilot finished chuckling, Coulson continued.  
  
“The other Avengers have been, or are in the process of being secured. Stark is flying from the Playboy Mansion that was incidentally full of HYDRA agents, to San Francisco and Rogers is being taken from the Democratic National Convention to the White House. We have Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton running security checks in New York. No word from Thor and Doctor Foster as of yet, but we have agents looking for them as we speak.”  
  
“They’ll come through.” Bruce said quietly to Darcy. She breathed in deep and nodded, before forcing a smile.  
  
“We were right about Cap though. High five.” She held up her hand to Bruce. He slowly brought his hand up to collide against hers. Darcy looked back towards Coulson and sat up straight, feigning innocence.  
  
“Do we have any idea where the attack will be? Or when?” Bruce asked.  
  
“Other than soon, no. What’s left of that sect of agents is in interrogation. We’ll find out one way or another, though we’re not set out on learning it the hard way. We’re going to stop in Billings then take a plane back to New York.”  
  
“Then what?” Darcy asked.  
  
“Then we wait, and plan accordingly. Doctor Banner will likely be assigned to determine the nature of the radiation involved with the HYDRA base. You have paperwork to look forward to. It piled up a bit over the weekend. Everything goes back to the way it was.” Coulson gave an impish smile, though he couldn’t look any less cordial while giving it. Darcy groaned.  
  
Darcy’s question went partially unanswered. She glanced over to Bruce, wondering if everything really would go back to the way it was.  
  
 *****  
  
Darcy stepped off the helicopter, Bruce and Coulson behind her. She looked around the small and empty airfield in the pitch black of night, a few cars and the single plane lighting up the area. Red lights flashed down the runway. Coulson quickly moved to go speak to someone, telling them he would tell them when it was time to board. Darcy spotted Bruce standing alone, still without a shirt and shoes. He simply placed his hands into his khakis and looked up at the night sky. Darcy made her way to him, calling out his name, before she was stopped by a SHIELD agent.  
  
“I’m Medical Agent Ophelie. Agent Coulson asked me to check on your injuries before we board. If you’ll come with me, please.” The woman waved her over to one of the parked SUVs. The hatch was open in the back and filled with medical supplies and small machines.  Darcy sat on the edge of the folded down back seat and sighed as the medic took her vitals, dabbed at her head injury, bandaged her, and poked and prodded at her. She was out of line of sight of Bruce, and she wondered what he was up to. She couldn’t feel more juvenile thinking about the almost-kiss. If he said he liked her, he liked her! Right?  
  
She needed to know. She had to know what would happen after they got back to New York. She hadn’t given much thought to being with him in the way they almost were, huddled up against the cave wall. His chest pressed against hers, his nose brushing against her nose and his breath tickling her lips. It was intimate. He looked at her with such overwhelming adoration, but it could have been a thing of the moment. Darcy told herself not to fool herself with romantic notions. She maintained that as long as she could somehow exist in his life, and her the same, she would be happy with that. Still, she would have kissed him. She would have run her fingers through his hair and explored new and shared sensations with him. And she had no doubt she would want to do it again.  
  
“You feel warm.” Agent Ophelie said as she pressed her hand to Darcy’s forehead. “But its only a small fever. No broken bones, no stitches required, no concussion. You lost a bit of blood, but I think you’re going to be okay. You’re lucky you had Doctor Banner with you. You should get some rest. Here.” The woman handed Darcy a bottle of pills. Darcy held up her hands, motioning she didn’t want them.  
  
“Thanks, but I think I’ll just ask the flight attendant for some Tylenol. I’m sort of not in the mood to trust people, considering how many people tried to murder me today.” She explained. The agent nodded politely before walking off. Just as Darcy was about to go and search for Bruce, she returned with a suitcase and purse.  
  
“These are yours from the cabin. I’m guessing you want a change of clothes. Your phone is in your purse, by the way.” Agent Ophelie smiled.  
  
“Yes! Oh my god, four for you, Ophelie. You go, Ophelie.” Darcy referenced one of her favorite films without second thought, and it wasn’t until the agent chuckled did she realize she did it. The woman stepped away from the vehicle, shooing others away as Darcy changed into clean, dry clothes.  
  
“Thanks. But I kinda need to...” Darcy looked around the SUV, yearning for a chance to go and talk to Bruce.  
  
“Go get him.” Agent Ophelie smiled, waving her off as Darcy picked up her bags and wandered off in pursuit.  
  
He was right where she last saw him, though this time around he was fully-clothed. Bruce wrung his hands together as he looked around at the agents, and it wasn’t until he saw Darcy did he pause. He met her halfway as she speedily walked up to him.  
  
“How’s the injury?” He asked, eyeing the bandage that wrapped around her head.  
  
“Full of pain and suffering.” Darcy shrugged, smirking up to Bruce after he gave her a worried look. “I’m fine. It’s just a scratch. Hey, I battled terrorists and dodged bullets and fell off a cliff and got swept away by a river today alone, so I think I’ll be cool with a bump on the head and a few scratches. I have battle scars now. What about you? You look like you’ve never sustained an injury in your life.”  
  
“Uh, yeah. I heal faster than most people do. It would take something pretty big to take me out -- or wear me out.” Bruce shrugged.  
  
“I bet I could wear you out, Banner.” Darcy teased, watching him blush with fervor. Even though she wanted to ask him about more serious things, it was _so_ worth it. Bruce smiled sheepishly, looking away as he rocked on his heels.  
  
“Uh, well.”  He tripped over his words. “You know, um, th-that’s,” He continued, struggling to breathe. Darcy gripped his shoulders, giving him a light shake.  
  
“Don’t die on me Bruce. Hey, can I ask you something?” She gently ran her hands over his shoulders, fingers tracing over his coat. She straightened his collar, not wanting to pull away from contact just yet. She had to let go eventually, and her fingers slowly drifted away from him.  
  
“Of course.” Bruce said, catching her hands in his. He held them gently and looked at her, giving her his full attention. Darcy’s stomach growled loudly, causing Bruce to blink at her with wide-eyes. Darcy felt like her face could melt right off, given the heat and dizziness that overwhelmed her then.  
  
“Wow, when was the last time we ate? We need some pancakes to celebrate.”  
  
“What are we celebrating?” Bruce asked.  
  
“Gravity.” She smiled. Bruce smiled and squeezed her hands. He opened his mouth to speak, but then Coulson walked up beside them. Bruce looked over to him and gently let go of her hands.  
  
“Plane’s ready. Miss Lewis, if you’ll come with me. We have to question you on your stories separately. Standard procedure.” Coulson stood and waited until Darcy reluctantly followed. Bruce followed behind her as they boarded the empty plane. Bruce seated himself towards the front of the plane as Coulson walked to the back.  
  
“Save me a seat?” Darcy asked as she turned around to Bruce. He nodded and smiled at her. She smiled back before following Coulson to the back. Her boss sat down and shuffled papers, ready to document them. Darcy sat in the row across from him.  
  
“You know you’re not making my life any easier, Coulson.” Darcy sighed, raising an eyebrow in defiance to him. Coulson smiled back apologetically.  
  
“I’m sorry Miss Lewis. but there really are more important matters that need to be attended to and I need you at your best and brightest. You have time to be with Doctor Banner when the country isn’t under attack.”  
  
“That’ll be like never.” She slumped in her seat with a sigh. Coulson was right though. Jane was still missing, and the other Avengers were on high alert. Lives were at stake and she was pining over Bruce Banner. She flipped open her phone to check her messages, finding none from Jane. As Coulson asked her questions regarding her trip, she flipped through her phone. She came across the photo she had taken with Bruce and set it as her background.  
  
By the time Coulson finished questioning her, over an hour had passed. She stood up and wobbled, grasping at the seats that lined the aisle. Coulson immediately stood up to brace her.  
  
“Are you okay, champ?” He asked in a lowered voice. As often as he snapped _Lewis_ or passive aggressively called her _Miss Lewis_ , he had taken to the nickname when he became concerned. He steadied her as she let go and stood up straight. She nodded as she exhaled a breath.  
  
“Tired.” She mumbled before looking back and thanking him. She made her way to the front of the plane.  
  
“Your turn.” She said to Bruce, stepping out of the way as he got up from his seat. She took the window seat and reclined with a sigh. Darcy closed her eyes, telling herself it would only be for a minute. Sleepiness overcame her, and for the first time this weekend, she slept soundly.  
  
 *****  
  
“She’s a good person.” Coulson said as he and Bruce leaned against the door of the cockpit. Bruce nodded, running his thumb over his bottom lip in thought. She wanted to celebrate the two of them, and he needed to talk to her about it, but she was asleep now. “Chatty and completely disobedient, but good.”  
  
“She worries that she was only hired due to Doctor Foster’s influence.” Bruce said quietly, tilting his head to the side as she began to snore. Coulson chuckled.  
  
“Doctor Foster and Thor is what lead us to hiring her, sure, but we wouldn’t hire her purely based on their recommendation. She sees things that no one else does, either in people or in work. She defuses situations easily and she’s smart. She doesn’t fall into line easily and she goes with her gut. Seems like she would fit in with the Avengers more than with SHIELD. Boss says we could use more like her. Miss Lewis isn’t just good, she’s good _for you_. Feels healthy having her in your life. I would tell you to take care of her, but I think she’s got that covered.” Coulson said proudly as he smiled.  
  
“Yeah, she’s something else. I just wish I had seen it sooner. I could use a little more good in my life.” Bruce walked over to her, brushing her hair from her face. He slowly kissed her forehead, feeling the warmth that emanated from it. He frowned and turned back to Coulson. “She has a fever. How long until we land?”  
  
Coulson checked his watch. “Should be any minute.” The phone attached to the wall rang then, and he was quick to pick it up.  
  
“Coulson.” He answered, listening to the other line. He listened before nodding and hanging up. He turned towards Bruce.  
  
“We have a situation.”  
  
 *****  
  
Darcy woke up as she was being pulled to her feet by an agent. She barely had time to turn around and grab her purse as she was dragged down the steps of the airplane thrust out into the open. She groaned and ducked her face away from the blinding rising sun and didn’t peek out from under her arm until her eyes adjusted. She was standing on a black lot filled with SHIELD agents and cars. Everyone shouted orders and ran past her, leaving her confused and lost.  
  
She spotted Bruce and Coulson standing next to a helicopter. Coulson yelled over the deafening swoop of the blades. Bruce nodded and patted his shoulder, then began to climb inside the copter. An agent approached Darcy and she quickly shoved them passed him, running to catch up. The helicopter slowly began to lift off the ground just as Darcy made her way to Coulson. She looked up as Bruce looked down, nodding to her.  
  
“What’s going on? Why is everyone freaking out?” Darcy yelled, looking up to her boss for the slightest hint of help.  
  
“We found out HYDRA’s location of attack the hard way.” He answered gravely. Darcy’s brows drew together as she gaped at him until he explained. “Here.”  
  
“Where are the others? He needs help! You can’t just make him go in there by himself!” She screamed, pointing to the sky. An SUV pulled up behind her. Coulson glanced to it, nodding to its driver before turning back to Darcy.  
  
“The others will be here soon and we’re doing the best we can. You’re running a high fever. We’re sending you back to base to get checked out. You need to rest before you get any sicker. Your driver will take you back. I’m sorry, but I need to get going.” Coulson breathed in before placing a hand on her arm and squeezing. Darcy wrapped her arms around him in a hug, causing Coulson to teeter off-balance.  Then she was pulled away and she stumbled into the back seat, the door slammed shut behind her.  
  
As soon as the vehicle pulled away from the airport, Darcy climbed out of the back seat and pressed Coulson’s taser to the driver’s shoulder, threatening to pull the trigger.  
  
“Follow the helicopter that took Bruce Banner or, so help me guy _,_ you will not have a good morning. Go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to usedkarma/fuckyeahdarcylewis of tumblr for the banner/fic cover.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: terrorism in NYC, car crashes, violence

“Do I look like I can follow a helicopter?” The driver sighed, turning to look at Darcy’s taser. “I deliver paperwork and people, that doesn’t make me your taxi. And you know they train us for that.” He shook his head and kept driving at the speed limit.  
  
“Damn it, Jane, you were right.” Darcy pouted. “Get me as close to where shit is going down as you can.”  
  
“What are you going to do? You’re just going to get in the way.” The driver huffed.  
  
Darcy pressed her forehead against the back of the driver’s seat. He was right of course, that unless she had a plan, she would be useless. But Bruce was alone, and this is what HYDRA wanted: to have as little resistance as possible, though the Hulk was a lot of resistance. Maybe it was best to sit this one out. She leaned back in her seat and looked out the window as they neared the city.  
  
“How bad is it?” Darcy asked. Smoke billowed up from skyscrapers as aircrafts circled and fired into buildings and into the streets. Her city burned while their heroes were missing. This was so much worse than Montana. It was contained there, it was only their hatred versus her and Bruce. Here, people were defenseless and innocent but still subject to the brutality of evil.  
  
“Bad. The military and the police are doing what they can, but they only have a part of the team here. The Hulk might do just as much damage as HYDRA and it’s hard to round people up and keep them safe.”  
  
“How close is most of the damage to headquarters and Stark Tower?” As they neared the city, the damage become glaringly apparent. It was almost as bad as when Loki and the Chitauri had attacked. HYDRA had some of the most advanced weaponry on the planet and a near endless amount of agents. It looked like New York was being overwhelmed by an army and the Avengers were nowhere in sight. The streets became blocked and shut down as HYDRA operatives on hovercrafts zoomed through downtown, firing at random. A hovercraft was struck down and spiraled into a bank, people fleeing and running from the explosion. Darcy looked up at a building, catching a glimpse of Clint Barton before he ducked and covered.  
  
“Looks pretty close. Stark Tower might be high on their list. Hold tight.”  
  
Military moved in from all sides, either on ground or in the air, knocking back and blocking what they could. National Guard and police ushered people off the streets, into sturdy buildings or underground. The road was increasingly blocked up as people abandoned their cars and ran. Other cars sped down the road in fear, ignoring traffic signals and other cars. The SUV carrying Darcy zoomed through traffic, cutting corners tightly. They gained speed again as they hurtled through the crowded downtown streets.  
  
“We have to stop and help people!” Darcy cried as they moved past a couple that struggled to pull each other to their feet. She turned her face to the window as they sped past them, the couple disappearing in the distance. The driver grimaced, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.  
  
“I have orders to get you to headquarters.” The driver sighed as he explained. “Besides, you’re sick.”  
  
“But they’re _dying_.” Darcy pleaded. She didn’t know what she could do, but whatever it was, she knew it was more than just leaving people on the streets. “You suck so mu--look out!” Darcy pointed ahead as a hovercraft zoomed right over them. Darcy turned and looked out the back window as the hovercraft continued to fly right past them, moving down the streets and firing at the people they had passed. Darcy was turning back around just in time to see another hovercraft collide with them.  
  
Glass flew everywhere as the vehicle spiraled out of control, stopping as it's side collided with an oncoming car. Darcy screamed as she was tossed onto the floor of the back seat, quickly moving to cover her head.Glass pelted against her as she heard metal being torn and crunched.  
She shook as she looked up at the other half of the vehicle smashed in, only inches from her face. She gasped as she scrambled up onto the seat. She could hear the screams now, of people as they ran down the streets, the groaning of the agent crushed and trapped in the seat in front of her, and her own ragged breaths as she attempted to assess the damage.  
  
The entire passenger side was bent inwards, crushed by the colliding car. The windshield was broken in, HYDRA’s hovercraft speared through from the front. Darcy looked down at her scratched hands and felt her face, feeling nothing out of the ordinary. Her shoulder and neck hurt from impact, but she was very much alive. She breathed in slowly before testing the door. It swung open, fully functional.  
  
“Driver-guy, are you okay? Please don’t be dead.” She gingerly brushed the broken glass off of her arms. She was almost afraid to peer in the front seat, afraid of the possible brutality that she would face.  
  
“Been better.” He groaned. Darcy let out a sigh of relief.  
  
I'm sending an emergency text to SHIELD's medical team with the GPS coordinates. They should be here soon.” She pulled her purse out from under the seat and shook off the glass. She flipped open her phone, greeted by Bruce’s face. She let out a small laugh of relief before texting in the codes. She pocketed her phone and slung her purse over her shoulder. Darcy briefly searched the car before plucking the taser from the floor.  
  
“Where’s the first aid kit?” She asked as she got out of the SUV, glancing around. There were no HYDRA agents, but plenty of cars and people moving around them to escape. The driver of the car that had collided with them had already climbed out and escaped. Darcy’s driver opened up his door and pulled himself out, panting as he curled up on the ground. She rolled her eyes at him.  
  
“Under the driver’s seat.” He said, though Darcy was already stepping over him and pulling it out. When Darcy began to walk to the sidewalk, he yelled out at her.  
  
“Wait, where are you going? I need help! My arm is bleeding and there’s glass!” He cried. Darcy rolled her eyes and began to run. At first, all the destruction looked the same. Broken glass, crashed cars, towering buildings that threatened to crumple. It was only when she stepped out at the end of a long avenue did she see Stark Tower at the end. She was right in the middle of the battle.  
  
People ran the opposite of her, screaming. “Go, Go! Get inside!” She yelled as she ran past them. She gasped as she ran, feeling her vision sway. The world felt like it was tumbling out beneath her and she wobbled, pushing her hands out as she collided up against the door of a shop. Catching her breath, she looked up at Stark Tower. A hovercraft exploded as Iron Man flew past it and if Darcy weren’t so exhausted, she would have cheered. Still, she saw no sign of Bruce. She sucked in a breath as she saw a woman helping a family out of a tipped over van and ran to catch up to them. A HYDRA agent moved up behind the woman and Darcy was quick to taser the operative and watch the goon crumple to the ground.  
  
“Get to the subway, go.” The woman repeated as she pulled a child out of the window. “Stay together and go. It’s okay, everything is going to be okay.” She crooned as she held out her arms, motioning for them continue. The mother held out her youngest through the window before climbing out herself. Darcy joined her, holding out her hand to help them out.  
  
“Here.” Darcy said, offering the first aid kit to the family. They quickly took it from her and ran down the street.  
  
“Thank you.” The woman breathed a sigh of relief, wiping her forehead before turning to Darcy. Darcy had to blink twice before she realized who this person was. She had seen her only in photos, but the similarities were strikingly clear.  
  
“Betty Ross.” Darcy gasped. Betty’s brows creased as she looked back at Darcy. She then looked to the side of her before her eyes widened.  
  
“Move!” Betty shouted as she pushed Darcy out of the way, pulling a gun from her belt and firing it. Darcy looked up in time to see a bolt of energy being fired and knocking a HYDRA agent to the ground.  
  
  
“Grab his gun.” She said. Darcy nodded and climbed to her feet, nearly tripping from dizziness as she reached the fallen agent. She pulled the gun from his hand, finding to see it was the same that Betty held. She moved it over in her hand as she examined it before standing to her feet and moving as fast as she could back towards the doctor.  
  
“Who are you?” She asked. Even when her voice was hard and stressed, it sounded incredibly sweet. Darcy stared at her before shaking her head.  
  
“Darcy. I’m a friend of Bruce’s.” She explained. Betty looked incredibly confused for a moment, examining Darcy carefully. A hovercraft flew past them, but Darcy held Betty’s stare.  
  
“Bruce... has friends?” She asked slowly. Darcy felt totally thrown off guard by everything from this woman.  
  
“Aren’t you supposed to be on your honeymoon?” Darcy asked back, equally confused by the perplexed look on Betty’s face.  
  
“I haven’t been married yet. Agent Coulson got word that Bruce had... changed, that he was in trouble. The wedding was stopped right before it started.” She explained as she looked left and right, motioning Darcy to get out of the street. She followed her to duck behind a cafe patio.  
  
“Is it still on?” Darcy asked, squinting at her. Was Bruce going to be lied to twice? Was Darcy going to babysit Bruce again or would he just run this time? Would he silently leave, removing himself from the equation, disappearing from the pain? Darcy knew this wasn’t Betty’s fault but she couldn’t help but feel some disdain towards her. She was sure that Betty Ross was incredibly charming, smart, and sweet. Maybe she was jealous, but that was for another time to figure out.  
  
“Yes, and this time I’m not sending Bruce away.” She sighed, peering over the patio and firing her gun once more to incapacitate another operative.  
  
“You’re the reason why he was sent to Montana? It was your idea to _lie_ to him?” Darcy couldn’t believe it, and if she weren’t hiding out from terrorists, she would have half a mind to slap the woman.  
  
“It was awful, I know, and I regret it immensely. I love Bruce, and he’s been my friend for many years. I just... didn’t want to cause him pain. Not any more.” Betty frowned.  
  
“Well you’re a little late for that.” Darcy snapped. “He was really hurt. God, when he hears it from you, you better be lucky he doesn’t go all Hulk smash on you.” She groaned, firing the gun in unison with Betty as they took down another two agents. Betty flinched at her comment, and she almost felt bad for her. Darcy was almost as guilty of course, more than eager to assist in keeping Bruce away from the wedding. She knew she, herself, was an accomplice to Betty’s plan. She sighed. “I didn’t mean that. He would never hurt you.”  
  
“I know that.” Betty said softly. “I just don’t know how I can make it up to him. We’ve put each other through so much, but I think this is finally the end of it between us. We can put it behind us and move on. I know this has been painful for him, but in a way, I’m sure he’s relieved. Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything to him.” She looked to Darcy and smiled. “I’m glad he has someone looking out for him.” Darcy turned to face her and slowly nodded.  
  
“You don’t look so well. Are you o--” An explosion caused both women to duck behind the patio as the ground around them shook. Darcy looked to Betty as she looked up to Darcy in fear, before the two women peeked out in the streets to see a manned mech moving down the street. Inside the cockpit, Darcy could see a familiar face: Billy. Darcy’s eyes widened as she ducked down again, pulling Betty with her.  
  
“We gotta get out of here. That guy is no bueno.”  Darcy said as Betty nodded. Darcy looked down the street, waiting for the mech to pass so they could run. It was then that a roar moved through the avenue. The two women exchanged looks, knowing who it belonged to. They both whispered “Bruce”, before turning back to the avenue. Looking up and down the street, they saw nothing. The mech paused and pivoted, causing Darcy to duck back down. The mech fired small missiles towards the tower, the sound of explosions happening only seconds later. The Hulk’s roar filled the city again, sounding distressed. Darcy’s heart ached for him, alone in his fight while the superheroes dashed to catch up. The roar happened again and, and Darcy knew from where. Above.  
  
The mech paused this time, and Darcy could see Billy lean up in the cockpit to press his nose to the glass. He suddenly pushed himself back into his seat as the mech braced itself. Like a green comet, the Hulk barreled down from the sky, landing on top of the van and crushing it feet underneath the street as he created a crater around him. The mech stepped back as the Hulk climbed out of it, roaring in Billy’s face. The Hulk had a vengeance. Even amongst the devastation, Jane’s words echoed in Darcy’s mind.  
  
 _“Listen, Darce. If a guy ever falls out of the sky and saves your sanity, you get that. You hear me? I’m not saying so we can go on double dates, but because you deserve it.”_  
 __  
“If I ever find a dude falling from the sky, I’ll let you know.”  
  
The Hulk raised his fist to Billy’s mech, throwing a punch directly towards the cockpit. The mech quickly grappled onto the Hulk’s fist, effectively blocking the punch. Bruce threw another punch with his other fist, but it was also caught. Billy’s mech grappled onto Bruce’s hands before swinging and pivoting, throwing the Hulk across the street and crashing into a building. The mech immediately fired up missiles that exploded against his chest as he stood. Darcy jumped to her feet as the Hulk roared out in pain, falling to his knees. Another missile fired above him, burying him in a mess of rubble.

  
“Bruce!” Darcy screamed as he collapsed under the building. She could hear Betty yell at her to duck, but it became background noise as the mech turned towards them. She could see the anger on Billy’s face transform into delight as he hovered above her. Darcy was frozen once again, staring back up at him. It was Betty who made a move, though an ineffective one, as she fired the HYDRA gun at the mech. Small beams of light flickering away as they bounced off the surface of the machine.  
  
“I tried.” Betty said breathlessly.  
  
“I’ll give it a nine out of ten.” Darcy said, facing down what she was sure to be her death. The mech raised its fist above Darcy’s head and she closed her eyes, waiting for it to be over. Instead, the Hulk bounded out of the rubble, and leapt on top of the mech. He reached into the mech suit, punching straight through the cockpit and grabbed Billy, ripping him from his seat. Billy screamed and yelped as he was pulled into the air by Bruce, who had hopped off the mech as it crashed to the ground. The Hulk proceeded to slam Billy into the ground multiple times before smashing his fist down on top of him. Darcy was almost positive that there was no more Billy. The Hulk dropped him with disgust, turning to see Betty and Darcy staring wide-eyed at him.  
  
At first, Darcy wasn’t sure why Bruce was staring at her. With her fever, everything felt toned down and distant, lost in a dizzying fog. The Hulk tensed up, huffing at her, and it was only when she heard Betty speak, did she understand why.  
  
“Hello, Bruce.” Betty said. The Hulk looked to Betty and snorted a sigh, slowly approaching them.  
  
“Are you okay? I was worried.” Darcy said as he knelt down beside them, his jaw still clenched. She understood that he had to maintain his anger to maintain his strength, but if he was too angry, he was dangerous. Her time with him was limited. The Hulk turned around to pick on the mech, tossing it as far as he could down the avenue, roaring at the destruction. He turned back to them before clenching his fists. Darcy nodded.  
  
“We’re fine, Bruce. It’s fine. Thank you.” Betty said. Still, Bruce lingered.  
  
“Go get ‘em big guy.” Darcy smiled. It was only then that the Hulk smirked back and turned, bounding down the empty avenue towards Stark Tower.  
  
Once he was gone, Darcy and Betty exchanged looks. They were both tired, worn down, and terrified.The area of clear of civilians, and while the HYDRA operatives were absent in Bruce's wake, there would be more soon. Both the women agreed it would be best to leave the area as fast as they could.  
  
“So was this like, a usual thing for you two? Going out on the town and punching terrorists and almost getting killed, because I don’t think I can handle that.” Darcy yelled as she ran, panting as she struggled to catch her breath.  
  
“No,” Betty said as she ran. “We didn’t get a chance to go out, not after the incident.”  
  
”Did you ever think, _Gee, maybe I shouldn’t date a deadly fugitive?_ ” They moved through a side alley, pushing through to the parallel street, in an attempt to further themselves from the bulk of the destruction.  
  
“No.” Betty laughed, running faster than Darcy now. Darcy blinked rapidly, feeling the blood rush to her head as she ran, the edges of her vision blurring with darkness. She felt sweat bead down her neck as she haphazardly moved to keep up with Betty.  
  
“Then why did you guys break u--” Darcy started as Betty threw her arm out in front of her. Darcy came to a halt and looked up as a mech landed in front of them. It immediately fired its missiles and Betty just barely pulled Darcy away before it zoomed past them, impacting with a building behind them. The force knocked Darcy to her knees and Betty struggled to pull her up. A mech moved in behind them, cornering the two into the street. Darcy stood up and looked from one to the other. Betty moved her back against Darcy’s and reached to cover her hands around her’s. Darcy understood why Bruce loved her so much and why it came to hurt so badly. The mech facing her raised its cannons and Darcy sucked in a deep breath.  
  
In a blinding flash of light, a gigantic lightning bolt struck down through the mech. It exploded before her eyes and before she could say _Myeuh-myeuh_ , Thor and Jane stood before her. She felt Betty let go of her hands and turn around behind her as Thor held his hammer high into the sky. The air crackled with electricity and tension before the god let out a thunderous roar, clenching his fist around his weapon and throwing it into the opposing mech. Mjolnir crashed through the mech suit, tearing and ripping through it like paper. Thor recalled the hammer, pulling it back through the mech once more, and held it proudly in his hand before returning it to his side.  
  
Darcy rocked from side to side as she looked from Thor to Jane. Jane smoothed out her hair and adjusted the lei of flowers around her neck, before looking up with admiration to her boyfriend. Thor smiled back down at her and rubbed her shoulder.  
  
“Darcy, are you okay?” Jane asked, stepping up to place her hands on Darcy’s shoulders.  
  
“You got leid.” Darcy muttered, twisting her finger in Jane’s lei before falling unconscious in her friend’s arms.


	15. Chapter 15

“Sorry.” She heard a woman say. Darcy blinked in the dim lighting of the room, breathing in the scent of antiseptic and coffee. She could hear a faint sound of snoring and a rhythmic beep beside her.  
  
“I didn’t mean to wake you.” Agent Ophelie said, her voice hushed. Darcy blinked again as she struggled to pull herself up. Ophelie stopped her, placing a hand on her shoulder.  
  
“It’s okay. You need to rest.”  She said gently.  
  
Darcy leaned back and closed her eyes with tired pause, then slowly opened them and turned her head to see Ophelie standing by the bedside. Bruce was slumped against the bed by her side, sitting in a chair, with his head buried in his arms. She flexed her arm, flinching at the sting of pain when she clearly saw the IV protruding. She felt the sticky tightness of the electrodes pressed at the apex of her breast and sternum. For a moment, she thought she was in a hospital, but if she were, she knew Bruce or Ophelie wouldn’t be there.  
  
“Where are we? Please don’t take off your clothes, I’m in too much pain for this to be a weird sex dream.” She waved her hand back and forth and she groaned with tiredness.  
  
Ophelie chuckled. “SHIELD infirmary. I’m usually not taking care of patients, but we’re strapped for help with all the agents who were injured during the attack.”  
  
“That bad?” Darcy frowned, feeling a wave of sleepiness move through her.  
  
“Don’t worry about it for now. You need your rest. When you were brought in you were terribly dehydrated and running a high fever, which as you know isn’t conducive with running into a heated battled. I’m not sure whether you’re one of the luckiest or unluckiest people I’ve ever met.”  
  
Darcy smiled, tilting her head to look down at Bruce, who snored softly with his head rested against his arms. She wasn’t sure which one she was, and that was an internal debate for another time, but in this very moment, she felt damn lucky. She sighed contently and brushed her hand against his, linking her pinky finger to his. Being hooked up to machines and being on bedrest in an underground medical facility felt far less frightening with Bruce curled up beside her.  
  
“What happened?” Darcy asked after a few moments of studying Bruce’s sleeping face.  
  
“Most of the attacks were stopped shortly after Thor arrived. Doctor Foster and Doctor Ross reached Agent Coulson and they brought you here. Doctor Banner hasn’t left your side since he regained consciousness.” Ophelie smiled as she draped a blanket over Bruce. “Agent Coulson told him visiting hours were over and that they would send him back to Stark Tower and he said and I quote, _good luck with that._ Then he pulled up a chair, asked me to bring him a coffee, and, well.” Ophelie smiled with a wistful shrug.  
  
“My loyal little hufflepuff.” Darcy yawned with weariness as she closed her eyes, her fingers stilling against his arm. She wasn’t sure if Medical Agent Ophelie argued that she saw him as more of a Ravenclaw, or if she was already dreaming as she was swept away by slumber.  
  
 *****  
  
The second time Darcy woke up in the infirmary, it was to the smell of pancakes. Considering she hadn’t eaten in two days, the smell was more than enough to pull her from sleep. Her body felt sluggish and tired as she stirred, but there was little pain and for that, she was thankful. She breathed out slowly as she opened her eyes to see Bruce looking back down at her, a warm smile on his face.  
  
“Hey.” Darcy smiled tiredly. Bruce leaned against the be and brushed his fingers against her forehead brushing the hair from her face.  
  
“Hey,” He returned warmly. “I’m glad you’re awake.” He slowly traced the back of his fingers down her cheek before settling his hands on the edge of the bed. She pulled herself up in the bed, careful not to tug on the IV.  Now that the room was illuminated she could see it was a modest private room, filled with the standard hospital fare. There were even bouquets of flowers that lined the table behind her.  
  
“Do you make it a habit to watch me sleep, Edward Cullen?” Darcy expected the reference to go far over his head, but he surprised her.  
  
“Hey, I’ll have you know that I don’t sparkle.” He said.  
  
“Woah now, you have dibs on physics, I have dibs on cultural references.”  
  
“It’s kind of hard to escape that sort of literary nightmare, even if you are off the grid.” Bruce shook his head as he laughed.  
  
“I missed you.” The phrase escaped her so fast she hardly recognized it as her own. For that fleeting moment, she felt incredibly vulnerable by her honesty, but as she looked to Bruce, the feeling vanished. The vulnerability was quickly enveloped by the natural warmth and care that he emanated. Without a word, he smiled and moved forward to slowly brush his lips against her cheek to plant a kiss on her temple. He lingered in that moment, and while Darcy could feel his breath against her skin in that one spot, she could feel him everywhere. She could feel her body warm up and come alive from its sleepy weakened state and feel herself become soothed by his very presence. She was suddenly back from the nightmares of the weekend and in the safety and companionship and intimacy of Bruce Banner’s company.  
  
“I missed you too, D-” Bruce started before Darcy moved and wrapped her arms around his neck. Bruce sighed and wrapped his arms around her, slowly running his fingers down her back. “Mmm,” He hummed.  
  
“You’re going to make the heart monitor go off.” Darcy said breathlessly as she buried her face in his neck, ignoring the pain of tugging on the IV. Bruce chuckled and Darcy could feel it reverberate through her body, causing her to melt against him.  
  
“Sorry.” He smiled into her neck.  
  
“Don’t be.”  
  
“I’m not.” He admitted, his fingers tracing up and down the thin hospital gown. Darcy shivered. “Is this okay?” He asked. Darcy slowly nodded, feeling an excited dizziness move over her.  
  
Bruce’s hand paused only for a second before continuing. As she let herself relax in Bruce’s arms, she had the time to reflect on the entire weekend and how her feelings for Bruce crept up on her so easily. While the events with HYDRA and her own run-ins with death and destruction were also incredible and sudden, so was her time with Bruce. They had gone from strangers to friends in a blink of an eye. But to Darcy, it had never felt rushed. It felt like Bruce had always been there in her periphery at work, and once she really looked at him, she wanted him to stay center stage.  
  
The truth was, being with Bruce felt effortless. Darcy eventually decided that it didn’t matter how it had come to this. It didn’t matter which event led her to feel the way she did, or the events that had caused Bruce to feel the same. All that mattered was that it was in existence, and it made Darcy feel incredibly wonderful. She felt comforted that he just existed. When he pressed his cheek against hers and sighed on her neck, she felt  not only elated, but powerful. She understood what gave Betty Ross the will to fight and to press on, no matter the difficulty she had with Bruce. Darcy could only hope she would have better luck, but if she didn’t, she knew she wouldn’t run from it. And she had a feeling that for the first time in a long time, he wouldn’t either.  
  
“Why do I smell pancakes, Bruce?” Darcy asked as she breathed in deeply against his shoulder. Bruce gently pulled back in which Darcy scoot over in the hospital bed as far as she could and patted the spot beside her.  
  
“You said you wanted pancakes to celebrate. I thought you might like them more than flowers. Figured you would say you couldn’t put syrup on flowers.”  
  
“You got me pancakes as a get well present? I might just have to keep you.” Darcy grinned from ear to ear.  
  
“I might have to take you up on that offer,” He said smoothly before he bent down and pulled up an insulated bag. Darcy wasn’t sure if she was glad that Bruce couldn’t see her stunned, breathless expression. He was nothing if not surprising. He climbed up next to her in the bed, pulling two plastic containers out from inside. He set them down on his lap and opened the first up, revealing pancakes and bacon. He pulled out two sets of plastic ware before attempting to toss the bag back to his seat. He missed. “I had some delivered. I wasn’t sure when you would wake up, but it’s still warm, so it should still be good.”  
  
Darcy leaned back against the bed. “You’re a lifesaver, Bruce. And I mean that in every way imaginable.” Darcy plucked a piece of bacon from the plate. “Speaking of which, I can think of way better ways to spend time together besides work and places of interests for super villains. If, you know,” Darcy chewed and swallowed, “you’re into that sort of thing.” She brushed her foot up against his after he had kicked off his loafers.  
  
“It’s been awhile since I’ve gone out. I’m not sure if I’m hip enough to leave Stark Tower.” Bruce pondered as he ate a forkful of pancake, absentmindedly brushing his foot against hers. Darcy could still see the small remnants of the green nail polish on his toenails.  
  
“You’re not, but I can deal. By the _waaay,_ how _old_ are you?” Darcy asked, wiggling her toes in anticipation. She knew she had seen it on file before, but the number escaped her. Bruce had to think on this one and Darcy ate to fill the silence.  
  
“Fourty-three, I think. You?”  
  
“Twenny-two” She said through her mouthful of pancake. Bruce let out a _‘huh’_ before shrugging and returning to his meal.  
  
“It’s okay Banner, I’ll let you rob my cradle.” Darcy hummed. Bruce began to choke on his food and Darcy patted his back. As he cleared his throat, he leaned back and turned to her.  
  
“You don’t think I’m an old man... or something?” He asked. The hesitated way Bruce said it, Darcy was sure that he hadn’t worried about it until now and she felt a little wrong for bringing it up. She sat up and moved her half-finished plate of pancakes onto the table beside her, before curling up on her side and looking up to Bruce.  
  
“Nah, according to sexism, dudes get more dignified and handsome and shit, while women are at their peak in their young twenties. So according to outdated gender politics, I’m getting the better end of the deal.” Darcy shrugged. Bruce snorted.  
  
“I don’t believe in all that. You’re beautiful, and you’ll always be beautiful.” He said.  
  
“Okay, Romeo. Cool your jets.” Darcy teased as she folded her arm under the pillow and looked up at him. Bruce smiled and shook his head, setting down his food on the opposite table. Darcy watched as he turned and moved himself down to lie on his side, facing her.  
  
“Thanks for staying by my bedside. Without you, no one would have been here to see me snore.” Darcy said dryly, though she smiled as Bruce cracked a grin. He sighed contently as brushed the hair over her shoulder.  
  
“I was worried.” He admitted, quietly. Even though they were the only two in the room, it was only loud enough for Darcy, and Darcy alone, to hear.  
  
“It’s only a fever.”  
  
“I know, but if Thor or the other guy hadn’t shown up, then it could have been a lot worse.”  He watched his fingers travel through her hair as he brushed it out of her face. Darcy breathed in deep, capturing the moment.  
  
“But it wasn’t. I kicked ass, Bruce. Well, to be fair, your ex helped a lot.”  
  
“Mmm, so I’ve heard.” Bruce said, distracted as he watched his fingers move down her face, so enthralled with the action as if he could hardly believe it was real. His thumb moved across her lower lip, and Bruce sighed, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. His hand gently clutched her head as he kissed her head again, and again.  
  
“I’m just glad you’re okay.” He whispered. Darcy didn’t know how long Bruce would be so  affectionate, but she loved it so much that she didn’t say a word and just soaked up all that he had to offer. She felt amazed by him and she basked in the adoration and the little nothings for as long as she could.


	16. Chapter 16

Several contented sighs, forehead kisses, and awkward cuddle positions later, Darcy finally spoke up. Bruce lay across the bed while she curled up beside him, her head resting on his chest.  
  
“Have you spoken to her, yet?” Darcy asked, tilting her head up to look at him. “Betty, I mean.”  
  
“I’m meeting her later. I told her I was going to wait until you woke up.” He explained.  
  
“You gonna be okay? Need a sickie to protect you? I’ll cough on her.” Darcy grinned as Bruce laughed, shaking his head.  
  
“I think I’ll make it.”  
  
“She’s nice, I think. Makes mistakes like the rest of us, which is good, otherwise I’d be legit freaked out on account of how perfect she seems. I hope you have a good talk with her. Hey, if she hasn’t gotten married yet, when is she going to do it? She’s not like, cancelling and running away with you, is she?” Darcy narrowed her eyes in faux suspicion.  
  
“No, I don’t think I’d let her steal me. I’ve done a lot of running away, but I think I want to stay here for a while. See where things take me.” Bruce smiled as he looked to her. “I’ll let you know about the wedding, okay? Coulson dropped off a new phone for me. Same number, so it works.”  
  
Darcy nodded before breathing in deep and snuggling against his chest. The sound of his heartbeat was soothing. “Everyone’s okay, right? Coulson and Jane and everyone? Things kind of went to hell last time I saw everyone.”  
  
“City’s a wreck, though that might have been more my fault then HYDRA’s. It’s pretty severe, but I think everyone’s okay. World hasn’t ended, yet.” Bruce said.  
  
“That’s good.” Darcy hummed tiredly.  
  
“Doctor Foster and Thor were here earlier.”  
             
“She didn’t give you a hard time, did she?” Darcy asked. It was all too easy to imagine Jane blaming Bruce for Darcy’s hospitalization.  He blushed as he paused in thought, a small smile moving across his face.  
  
“She wanted me to pass on a message to _get some_. She said you would know what it would mean.  She meant rest, right?” Bruce peered up at her, a coy smile on his face. Darcy laughed and buried her face against his chest.  
  
“I sorta spilled the beans to Jane.” She hummed as she turned to look up to him again.  
  
“About?”  
  
“About a certain super scientist. She figured it out before I did, but I was going on and on about how awesome your hair is, and how smart you are, and how cute you are, and how nice you are, and blah, blah, compliment, blah.”  
  
Bruce smiled a half-crooked smile. “When was that?”  
  
“Hey now, you’re not privy to super secret girl talk. If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you. I have clearance for that, you know. Comes with knowing how to make a mean powerpoint for Coulson.”  
  
“He stopped by, too.” Bruce added.  
  
“He probably wants me to come into work.” Darcy huffed. Bruce chuckled.  
  
“It’s cool, I’ll see them when you go visit Betty Spaghetti. I hope it goes well.”  
  
“I hope so too.” Bruce sighed, placing his hand over his face. Darcy watched as he pulled at the ends of his hair, stress building where it didn’t belong. She sat up and looked to him and he stared back.  
  
“What the hell, I’m going for it.” She prepped, to Bruce’s confusion. Darcy bit her lip as she leaned forward, digging her fingers to move through his dark, greying hair. As her hands moved over his head, her toes curled in excitement and she held back a gasp. It was softer than she thought it was. She used both hands to run her fingers through it with abandon, and watched his strands of hair fall wayward in her wake. Bruce let out a content croon, shoulders relaxing as his head fell against her shoulder in utter defeat. Darcy couldn’t help but laugh as she massaged her fingertips against him, her nails running from the nape of his neck to his ears and his scalp. She repeated the motion, savoring the feel, the intimacy, the affection until Bruce leaned back and smiled at her.  
  
“Worth it?” He asked.  
  
“Worth it? Everything and more. That’s the stuff of legends, Bruce Banner. I want to live in your hair or at least build a summer home. What kind of conditioner do you use?”    
  
“Oh my god.” Jane said, standing in the opening of the door. She pulled the sunglasses from her face and set them on her head.  
  
“Jane!” Darcy nearly squealed, pulling her hands from Bruce’s head. Bruce looked momentarily confused before pulling himself together and slowly sliding off the bed. At first Darcy thought that Jane’s presence had thrown Bruce out of his comfort zone, but she then realized that this was his default. Everything was out of his comfort zone, and Darcy’s existence was the rare happenstance where Bruce felt peaceful equilibrium.  
  
Darcy’s train of thought was throttled as Jane wrapped her arms around her, pulling her back to reality.  
  
“Air, air.” Darcy reminded Jane, patting her on the back as she swayed back and forth in her grip. Jane pulled back and proceeded to dump shopping bags on the hospital bed.  
  
“If you don’t mind me asking, Doctor Foster, how did get all this past clearance upstairs?” Bruce raised his brows in admiration as he looked over the bounty Jane had brought in with her.  
  
“Oh hey, Doctor Banner.” Jane breathed as she stood up. “All you have to do is give the suits a little shove and they crumble. Nothin’ to it.” She waved her hand nonchalantly.  
  
“I’ll let Director Fury know his agents aren’t doing their job.” Coulson remarked as he stood in the door. “And I’ll let the nurse know that Miss Lewis is awake.” He paused and looked from Bruce and Jane to Darcy. “Doing well, I hope?”  
  
Darcy held her thumb up and Coulson nodded.  
  
“Lady Darcy! I’m glad you fare well!” Thor boomed as he bounded past Coulson and moved into the room. Bruce wrung his hands together and breathed in as he looked around the room. He turned back to Darcy, placing a hand on her shoulder.  
  
“It’s getting a little crowded here. I’ll be back later.” He said. Darcy nodded and motioned him over, stealing a kiss on his cheek as he bent down closer. Bruce blushed and smiled as he stood, trying to innocuously escape the attention of the others.  
  
“Thor, Agent Coulson.” Bruce nodded. “Doctor Foster.” He waved before he slid out of the room.  
  
“Okay, everyone out.” Jane twirled around and motioned her hands in a sweeping motion. Thor and Coulson looked at her dumbfounded, only in the way two dudes who have always been in charge could look. “Now.” She added.  
  
“Try not to get into too much trouble. Thor, if you’ll come with me.” Coulson looked over to Thor expectantly. The god turned in a circle before finding his bearings and kissed Jane on the cheek before following after Coulson. The entire event lasted less than a minute, but it was like a storm had come and gone through the small hospital room. Jane collapsed in a sigh next to Darcy.  
  
“I brought you back your stuff. I got your laptop, and your ereader, and your ipod, and your stuffed duck. And I have cookies, snacks, the hoodie you like, the fuzzy pajama pants you wear, um...” Jane began to unpack everything she named and more. Darcy was left wondering how Jane broke into her apartment. If anyone could, and most definitely would, it was Jane Foster. She could only hope she didn’t enlist the help of Thor and leave a broken door or wall in her wake.  
  
“Thanks.” Darcy mumbled as she sunk down to lay across Jane’s legs.  
  
“Rough weekend?” Jane mused.  
  
“At least you got to go to Hawaii.” Darcy grumbled.  
  
“And almost got tossed into a volcano!” Jane protested, shaking her head.  
  
“I don’t think you make the qualifications for virgin sacrifice -- ow!” Darcy flinched when Jane pinched her. “I’m on my deathbed here, give me a break.”  
  
“You’re not dying.”  
  
“Have _you_ slept in this bed? I didn’t think so. Okay, so, volcanoes?” Darcy fidgeted until she found a position where everything hurt a little less.  
  
“Well the first day there was awesome but then a giant robot crashed through our beach bungalow. I swear, I can never get anything done with Thor.”  
  
“You mean you can’t get Thor done. Ow!”  
  
“We respect the storytime, Darcy.” Jane said with a playfully chastising tone.  
  
“I’m listening.”  
  
“Where was I?”  
  
“Giant robot interrupting sexy time.”  
  
  
  
“Right. So Thor runs out after these HYDRA guys, _naked_. I ran after him with his pants, and this goon tries to grab me, so I wrap the pants around his face, and try to wrestle him to the ground while I’m in that Victoria Secret outfit you gave me for my birthday. I catch up to Thor without his pants, and I pick up this crazy gun and we try to take the rest down, but there were so many. It was crazy! Eventually Thor was momentarily overwhelmed and they separated us, long enough for them to nab me into their helicarrier. Thor couldn’t smash it up of course with me in it, so he had to find a ground route to the volcano. Then he caught me, of course, I never had any doubt about that, I mean he’s a _god,_ so _I_ wasn’t worried. But it was a little weird doing the whole thing in lingerie, and I kind of wish I was just on the beach getting happily tipsy.”  
  
“And using Thor’s hammer.”  
  
“... Yes, Darcy.” Jane struggled not to laugh, but gave in as Darcy snorted at her.  
  
“I was worried.” Darcy said, in a quiet voice, after her own giggling ceased.  
  
“ _We_ were worried about _you!_ And it looks like we arrived just in time. I heard of your adventures in Montana, see, this is why I worry!”  
  
“Double standard.” Darcy whined.  
  
“I know.” Jane sighed. “You’re my best friend, Darcy. I know you don’t always... think before you do things, and you always want to see the best in people. I just worry that you’ll get in over your head. I know things were a little dangerous this week, and I know you only got a few scratches, I just don’t ever want to have to see you with more than just a few, you know?”  
  
Darcy slowly nodded. She worried over Jane’s safety too, but at the same time, she had an unwavering confidence in her. Darcy wasn’t sure if that was naivety or trust.  
  
“Contrary to popular belief, I’m an adult.” Darcy reached across the bed to pick up her stuffed duck plush and hug it to her chest. Jane hummed an unconvinced _‘mhm’_ before digging into the snacks that she had brought.  
  
“So,” Jane said as she bit into her fifth cookie. “You and Dr.Banner sure were cuddly.”  
  
“Yeah, I was a little surprised.” Darcy said slowly.  
  
“Why? He likes you, Darcy!”  
  
“I know, it’s just normally he’s more reserved. I guess I just wasn’t expecting it.” Darcy rolled over in Jane’s lap, careful of yanking her IV around. She pulled her stuffed duck plush under her chin as she hugged it. “Don’t get me wrong, I like it, I’m just like, _woah_ , you know?”  
  
“I don’t know him very well, so I can’t say, but,” Jane bit into her sixth cookie, “For a guy who’s lost a lot of people in his life, including himself, maybe he’s just really glad that you’re still here.” Jane said, her voice falling soft. Darcy nodded before burying her face into the duck.  
  
“That bad, huh?” Jane asked sympathetically. Darcy nodded again, clutching the plush tightly.  
  
“I really, really like him Jane. I really, do.” She sighed, feeling the comfort of Jane gently patting her head.  
  
“You’re not allowed to be a critic for me falling for Thor, now.”  
  
“Yeah, I know. Guess you got your double date partners now.” Darcy mused.  
  
“It was really tough double dating with Pepper and Stark, though at least Stark could cover the damage costs... Hm.”  
  
“Well I’m pretty sure Bruce can go toe-to-toe with Thor’s ability to wreck shit.”  
  
“You’re not bothered by it?” Jane asked.  
  
“By what?” Darcy baited, knowing exactly what Jane was asking.  
  
“His... you know, his condition.” Jane attempted as delicately as she could.  
  
“The fact that he turns into a giant raging green killing machine capable of levelling cities when he gets pissed off? No, I’m not that bothered by it, but I might be if people keep giving me crap for my cavalier attitude. Bruce can take care of himself, he doesn’t need a babysitter, he needs a friend, and I can be that for him, probably more, I don’t know. I’m a little afraid of him, but it’s not going to stop me. Besides, me and the Hulk are cool. We’ll be bros one day. Bruce says I center him, so I’m not too worried.” Darcy leaned back up to take the container of cookies from Jane before she ate them all.  
  
“Being the girlfriend of a superhero is exhausting work.” Jane warned. Darcy had heard several times of kidnappings, hostage situations, and weird remarks from Stark about Jane and Thor’s sex life. Darcy wondered if that was par for the course. Though, Darcy had no idea if girlfriend was the applicable title for what she had with Bruce. “It’ll be okay. And then one day you’ll get some.”  
  
“Jane!”  
  
 *****  
  
“Thank you for coming out, Bruce.” He watched as Betty sucked in a deep breath, clutching her coffee between her palms. Bruce swallowed as he looked out the window and across the street to see an agent glance at him. He was always under surveillance, even now. A part of him wished that he hadn’t left Darcy’s side in the infirmary.  
  
“It’s no problem.” Bruce said, pulling his brows together as he prepared himself for the conversation.  
  
“I’m sure you know why I wanted to speak with you. Why I asked Coulson to get you out of town.” She paused and waited for Bruce to dissent. He said nothing, so she continued. “It was foolish and immature. I know I should have spoken to you but it had been so long, and I was sure that it would have been rude of me to just have it in town and not invite you. But I was sure if I invited you, that it would have been worse. I’m sorry, is what I’m trying to say. It was wrong of me to take advantage of the strenuous relationship between you and SHIELD.”  
  
Bruce was quiet for a long time. Luckily for her, it was incredibly difficult to become legitimately angry at her, even if he could feel the radiation’s effect prickle under his skin. He slowly nodded and breathed out from his nose as he leaned back in the booth.  
  
“It’s no trespass that I shouldn’t have expected.” He said quietly, looking at his sullen reflection in the drink. He could hear the sigh that Betty expelled and he couldn’t bring himself to look up at her face.  
  
“Are you alright? I know normally after an incident, you feel a bit off.” Betty sipped on her coffee, looking up at him. Bruce leaned forward and brought his cup to his lips.  
“Yeah. I’ve been preoccupied, so I feel fine.” He said before adding, “Thank you.”  
  
Betty smiled as she set her drink down. “Darcy is special to you, I can tell. I’m happy for you, Bruce. She’s pretty tenacious.”  
  
Bruce couldn’t help but to smile, his posture relaxing as he chuckled. He scratched at the beard scruff that began to form on his cheeks. “Ah, yeah. I’m pretty fond of her. I’m glad I was given the proper chance to meet her. I don’t regret leaving New York this weekend.” He said, a hint of gentle warmth in his voice.  
  
“Are you happy?” Betty asked. Bruce took a moment before nodding.  
  
“I am.” He said finally. Betty reached across the table to rest her hand on his, squeezing gently.  
  
“Then I’m happy for you, Bruce.”  
  
He smiled and twist his hand in hers before squeezing back and pulling his hand away. “I’m happy for you too, Betty. I’m sorry your wedding was interrupted. I’m sure this isn’t what you and your fiance had in mind for a honeymoon.”  
  
“Well, about that.” Betty laughed. “I want to talk to you about something.”  
  
 *****  
  
“Why do you hate me!” Darcy sighed as she flopped dramatically back against the infirmary bed. Coulson stood beside her, completely unimpressed with her theatrics.  
  
“I’ve already given the interns the maximum amount of hours. Unfortunately, in the wake of the attack, your work has been doubled. This can all be done from home, of course, so you don’t have to be back into the office by Monday. You have nearly a week to recover.”  
  
“It’s not recovering if I have to allot my energy to doing your dirty work. _Couuulsooooon_ , ugh!” Darcy whined as she was handed a laptop, proceeding to cover her face with it. Maybe if she played dead, the work would get done by itself.  
  
“Is there anyway I can convince otherwise?” Coulson offered, raising a brow. Darcy pulled the laptop down, just enough to peek her eyes out over it.  
  
“Extended lunch hour.”  
  
“I’m not giving you extended lunch hour for the rest of your employment for extra work on one assignment.”  
  
“Extended lunch hour for a month.”  
  
Coulson thought on this for a moment before finally relenting. He nodded, attempting to conceal a small smile.  
  
“May I ask what the extended lunch is for?”  
  
“I’ll give you three guesses.” Darcy smirked.  
  
“Sorry, am I interrupting?” Bruce asked as he stepped in. Coulson looked to Bruce before looking back to Darcy, who smiled.  
  
“Bingo.” She said.  
  
“I’ll leave you two for now. Though I’ll need that report by tomorrow.” Coulson said before backing out of the room.  
  
Happy to see Bruce, she sat up and set the laptop beside her. “I told her to look out for smashing, hope she took my advice.”  
  
“No smashing involved.” He laughed as he approached her beside. A step away from her, he paused and wrung his hands together nervously. Darcy blinked with confusion, wondering if something had gone wrong during the talk.  
  
“What’s up?” She asked, eyeing his nervous tic. He wobbled from side to side before pulling an envelope from his jacket pocket.  
  
“We don’t have to if you don’t want to.” He said as he placed it in Darcy’s hands. Unfolding the envelope, she pulled out a small textured card that read:  
 __  
Bruce Banner & Darcy Lewis,  
  
 _You are cordially invited to the wedding of Betty Ross._  
 _Held August the Fifteenth, eleven in the morning_  
 _in Central Park, New York City, New York_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for the comments, kudos, bookmarks, recs, tumblr likes and reblogs. :') one chapter left, thank you all for making this an awesome experience for me.


	17. Chapter 17

The rest of the week was spent in busy fashion, so busy in fact, that she barely got time to see Bruce. He was sent back to Montana with a survey crew to assess the radiation left by HYDRA’s base and Darcy was up to her ears in documents, reports, and spreadsheets. She was released from the hospital only a day after, given a prescription for antibiotics and a referral to SHIELD’s therapy counselor once a week. She already went once, beginning the descent into talking about her trauma concerning the attacks, but Darcy was sure that the therapist was annoyed with her sass in abundance. In her downtime, she caught up with Jane and texted Bruce. He seemed quiet and apprehensive on the phone, but he was more adapt to texting, and that suited Darcy just fine.  
  
 _Be there in an hour. How are you feeling?_ His most recent text read. Darcy stood naked in her living room with a towel wrapped around her chest. Trying to hold her phone so she didn’t drip water on it, she held it above her head as she texted back.  
  
 _Wet!_  
Lol kidding, but seriously I’m naked  
Hope you’re ready for an awkward wedding~  
 _I get to see you in a suit today, so go me_  
:)   <3 <3 <3  
  
Darcy pressed ‘send’ and then turned on her heels, subsequently nearly slipped on the floor as she turned back to her room. It was then that her phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number, so she answered with no less than a sing-song voice.  
  
“ _Helloo_?” She asked.  
  
“Is this Darcy Lewis?” A sweet voice asked, and Darcy recognized it as Betty Ross.  
  
“Yup. Hey Betty Spaghetti, shouldn’t you be fretting over your hair or having some sort of bridal breakdown?” Darcy asked, spinning and pacing as she held her phone to her ear. Betty laughed, and Darcy was genuinely envious of how mellifluous it sounded.  
  
“No, I’ve held my wedding off for enough time that I’m ready to say my “I do’s”. I was calling to ask you if you needed anything.”  
  
“Hey, lady, this is _your_ day. It’s fine.” Darcy waved her hand back and forth.  
  
“Alright. Thank you for being so good to Bruce, Darcy. You’re wonderful.” Betty said, kindly.  
  
“Can I not be conditionally wonderful based on how I treat your ex?” Darcy asked, wincing. She pressed her lips together and rocked back and forth as she waited on Betty’s response.  
  
“You’re wonderful for lots of reasons, I’m sure of it. I just got off the phone with Dr. Foster. I’m glad she’s coming too. I got to meet her and discuss her theory with her at the infirmary. She spoke highly of you. Anyways, I have to go. I hope to see you at the wedding and the reception!”  
  
“Byee.” Darcy sang before hanging up the phone. She had a text waiting from Bruce.  
  
 _Wow._  
 _I’m going to borrow “I can’t even” from you._  
<2  
  
Then another.  
  
 _Crap_  
 _< 3 is what I meant_  
 _Why does it look like a little mouse?_  
  
Darcy responded.  
  
 _It’s a heart!_  
 _Okay let me get dressed unless you want pics_  
 _EXAGGERATED WINKY FACE_  
  
Bruce responded quickly.  
  
 _Sorry._  
  
Darcy rolled her eyes and threw her phone to the bed before beginning to unwrap her towel. Then the doorbell rang.  
  
“Coming!” She yelled as she padded across her apartment, careful not to slip. She peeked through the peephole before opening the door wide.  
  
“Jane!” Darcy shouted. Jane was already dressed for the wedding, in a brilliant deep blue dress. Darcy thought she looked incredible.  
  
“You’re naked.” Jane said dryly, stepping into the apartment and closing the door behind her. “Why are you naked!”  
  
“I just got out of the shower, chill. I got this.” Darcy said, but Jane pressed her palm to Darcy’s dry shoulder and she looked unamused. Darcy rolled her eyes and scuttled back into her room.  
  
“Is Bruce on his way?” Jane called from the living room. “How is your place _so clean_?”  
  
“Soon!” Darcy yelled back as she stripped down and pulled on her underwear. She ducked out from around her bedroom door to look at Jane. “For starters, I’m not a mad scientist, don’t have the God of _Thunder and Fertility_ as a boyfriend, and generally like to be organized.”  
  
“Gotta be organized somewhere!” Jane tossed back, referring to Darcy’s less than typical mental processes and personality.  
  
“Can you zip me up?” Darcy called and found herself turning circles as she wiggled in the purple dress.  
  
 _“_ You’re supposed to do your hair before you put on the dress.”  
  
“No big.” Darcy shrugged.  
  
“Hold still.”  
  
“I _am_.” After much fidgeting and fighting the laws of physics, Darcy was dressed and her hair brushed, combed, moussed, and more.  
  
“Weddings aren’t exactly my specialty.” Darcy admitted as she examined herself in the mirror. “I think... food is my specialty. Blogging. Sleeping. Downloading. Multi-purposing office supplies...”  
  
“Yeah, well I made good with Dr. Ross and she has tons of research opportunities. She has a lot of pull at Culver in the college of sciences, you know. Otherwise, weddings? Nope.” Jane sighed as they stood side by side to look in their reflections. They looked good.  
  
“When are you marrying Thor?” Darcy asked and was glad she caught Jane’s surprised expression in the mirror.  
  
“Marrying? I... I don’t know. He’s from _Asgard._  He’s a _king_ and there’s _rules_ and etiquette for that sort of thing. I have tons of work and there’s barely enough time, and...” Jane eventually gave up on talking. Darcy hugged Jane from behind.  
  
“One day.” She said softly to Jane. Jane was quiet for a moment, but then there was a knock at the door and Jane scrambled out of Darcy’s arms.  
  
“I think that’s for me!” She said and swung open the door. In a sight that Darcy was sure she would never be around to see, was Thor in a deep blue suit. Her jaw dropped as the dapper Asgardian King walked into her apartment, looking proud as ever. He picked up Jane’s hand and kissed it, making her blush. Darcy grinned at the sight.  
  
“Hey.” She nodded to Thor. When he saw Darcy he strode quickly across her living room to pick her up and swing her around, laughing.  
  
“Lady Darcy!”  
  
“Hey big guy. You’re looking fancy. You should definitely be in a suit more often.” Darcy smiled and fixed his tie. Thor beamed with pride.  
  
“Hey now, only one of us can hit on my boyfriend, thanks.” Jane smiled as she wrapped both her arms around one of Thor’s.  
  
“It is okay. I can take hits from both of you.” Thor laughed and hugged both of them close.  
  
“Next time, Thor is getting Midgardian slang lessons.” Darcy pointed.  
  
“I would appreciate that utmostly, Lady Darcy. The Man of Iron has been laughing behind my back and I do not understand his humor. It is frustrating to say the least.” Thor said. Darcy opened her mouth to badmouth Stark, but there was a knock at the door. The three looked at each other as they realized who it was.  
  
“It’s Bruce.” Darcy said, dropping her voice to a whisper.  
  
“So go _get some_.” Jane urged, tilting her head to the door. Darcy heard Thor ask _‘Some of what?’_ as she opened the door to find Bruce. He stood there, brown eyes peeking over his glasses that hung on the bridge of his nose, his hands shuffled into his pockets of the black tuxedo that he wore. She watched as Bruce’s eyes temporary flickered down from her eyes, taking in her full appearance. She watched as his expression change from hesitance to full on awe and admiration.  
  
“Nice tie.” She leaned against the door as she reached out, moving her fingertips over his tie. She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, feeling his hand rest on her hip.  
  
“You look amazing.” He said quietly, as if it were a small secret they would both share. Darcy smiled as she leaned back, taking his hand in hers. Bruce looked up to Thor and Jane and gave a nod, in which the couple waved back.  
  
“Tony gave us a limo, so if you guys want to catch a ride with us, that’s fine.” He offered, pointing behind him with his thumb. Jane looked up to Thor and smiled at him, before turning back to Darcy and Bruce.  
  
“I think we’re going to fly there.” Jane said, nodding.  
  
“Right. Flying.” Bruce said, nodding. “So we’ll see you there.”  
  
“Yep. You guys go on ahead, I have the spare key, so I’ll lock up.” Jane said proudly.  
  
“You do _not_ get to have sex in my room.” Darcy held up her finger sternly, suppressing her grin as she watched Jane fluster with embarrassment.  
  
“ _Goodbye Darcy, see. you. at. the. wedding._ ” Jane said, through gritted teeth. Darcy smiled and wiggled her fingers at Thor and Jane before pulling Bruce out the front door. There was a moment of pause as they both stood outside the door, both chuckling. Darcy looked up to Bruce and just nodded, content with the fact that she had a super cute super scientist on her doorstep. When Bruce slipped her hand in his and lead her to the limo, she felt like a queen.  
  
“So, I was going to take five points from the Hufflepuff House but all this is pretty awesome, so what the hell, house cup. Ooh, wow, is this champagne?” Darcy looked around the interior of the limousine as Bruce slid in next to her. The driver seemed to know their destination, as they began to drive away without further prompt.  
  
“So, I have to ask. Why hufflepuff? I’m not that much of a pushover, am I?” He smiled as Darcy leaned against his shoulder.  
  
“Hufflepuffs aren’t pushovers, they’re the most badass house. Their house is represented by a _badger._ Have you seen a _badger_ be a pushover? I didn’t think so.”  
  
Bruce laughed, and Darcy continued.  
  
“ _Because._ You are seriously, one of the kindest, most loyal, most hardworking people I know. You’re crazy smart and clever, but at the core, you’re just, _so good._ And I want to work hard to show you that you are, because you deserve it.”  
Bruce seemed stunned at her words for a small moment, slowly smiling in amazement at her. “Wouldn’t that make you one as well?”  
  
Darcy smiled, raising her brows. “You obviously haven’t seen me put on my robe and wizard hat.”    
  
“You’ll have to explain that reference to me.” He chuckled. Darcy leaned up in his ear and whispered. Bruce turned red and covered his face with his hands as he laughed.  
  
 *****  
  
Bruce and Darcy made it, with barely enough time to sit in the back row. Despite the city in recovery, Central Park remained outstandingly beautiful on the temperate late summer day. Chairs lined up to the decorated altar, a clear path of flower petals cutting between them. Politicians and scientists and family and friends surrounded them, but Darcy could spot Jane and Thor towards the front. Upon careful inspection of the security detail in the distance, she could spot the outline of Coulson and the woman from the first HYDRA battle in the distance. She had a distinct feeling that Clint was cooped up in a tree with a walkie. Despite the overabundance of strangers and security at a wedding of a woman from Bruce’s past, she felt good with Bruce’s hand in hers.  
  
“Some first date, huh?” Darcy raised her brows as she looked to Bruce. He smiled as he looked down at his feet.  
  
“I didn’t know this was a date. If it was, I would have...”  
  
“Been more nervous?” Darcy ribbed, leaning forward to meet his gaze.  
  
“No,” His eyes caught hers and he smiled confidently, leaning back against his seat while Darcy mimicked his actions. “I would have done something nice for you.”  
  
Darcy leaned forward and quickly kissed him on the cheek just as the wedding procession began.  “This is nice. We’re not getting murdered, are we?” She whispered in his ear, and Bruce chuckled, unaware as Betty walked past him.  
  
 *****  
  
The wedding ended and the reception began in a flurry of congratulatory cheers. Staff was more than quick to transform the ceremony into a burgeoning celebration, complete with music, food, and drinks. Darcy pulled a blushing red Bruce Banner onto the dance floor, only to find he wasn’t as bad a dancer as he proclaimed to be.The crowd screamed as Thor accidentally struck down a tree with lightning, but the party continued on. Couples and children and the newlyweds danced to love songs and modern hits. Darcy was pleased as punch to show Bruce how to dance to Party Rock Anthem, and when older party songs played, Darcy could see Coulson put his hands on his hips during Time Warp.  
  
“Who taught you to dance, twinkle toes?” Darcy laughed as Bruce spun her, pulling her in tightly and wrapping an arm around her hip. Impressed, she pursed her lips together and smirked up to him.  
  
“You learn a thing or two when you travel.” He explained, a slow smile spreading across his face as he looked at her, their height almost even in her heels.  
  
“Stop being so cool. It’s freaking me out.” Darcy stuck out her tongue.  
  
“I’ll work on being a nerd, then.”  
  
“Oh, I think you’ve got that down pat, Banner.” Darcy squealed as Bruce spun her, dipping her down and pulling her back up. “I like nerds.” She reassured.The song changed to that of a slow one, and Darcy wrapped her arms around his neck as she felt his hands move around her waist.  
  
“Yeah?” He hummed.  
  
“Can I ask you a question?” Darcy asked, biting her lip as she looked to Bruce. He  
smiled and nodded.  
  
“Why did you accept Betty’s wedding invitation? When my ex handed me his wedding invitation, I couldn’t even stay within the same time zone, let alone accept it.”  
  
“Well,” Bruce started. “I’ve done a lot of running away from the people in my life. Running away from myself.” His brows drew together as he spoke, staring off at a stray point on the floor. “Betty and I both ended years ago. It was mutual, but not amicable and not happy. It was brutal and heartbreaking, and instead of being an adult, I ran. I was afraid of myself, afraid for her, maybe a little afraid _of her._ She’s been an important person in my life, and I’m grateful towards everything she’s done for me. I think this is what I need. It’s closure. If this week has taught me anything, it’s that... running won’t give me that closure. Staying and having the right people in your life will. Because those people can make you stronger, more than you ever thought you could.”  
  
Darcy thought about the Montana mountains, when she was chasing Bruce through the wilderness, when she had broken down completely. She sobbed, screamed, cried, not only over the terror, but over the outburst of her own past and the physical manifestation of that shame. But then she drew in that rich oxygenated air, and it had felt like her first breath. It was cathartic to finally be able to meet that closure. She thought about how fickle closure was, and how long and how far you could go for it, only for it to have never been there in the first place. How closure could take years when you want it in minutes, and how sometimes closure is a dull pain fading, but sometimes its also the pain resurfacing all at once. Sometimes closure came in the form of a wedding invitation. This, was Bruce’s closure. How long had he been waiting for it?  
  
“So, thank you.” Bruce said after several moments of dancing in silence. Darcy tilted her head up at Bruce, brows drawn together.  
  
“For what?” She asked.  
  
“For being patient with me.  You turn what could be completely horrible into something that’s more than bearable. For being someone strong in my life that I can look up to. If I had half of your resilience, I’d be...” Bruce trailed off, his voice filled with admiration and a loss of words.  
  
“If I recall correctly, I was a huge jerk to you. I _pushed_ you. I’m not sure if cognitive dissonance is the basis of great relationships.”  
  
Bruce laughed. “You also tasered Thor to knock some sense into him.”  
  
“I don’t know if I want slapping sense into superheroes to be my M.O.” Darcy quipped.  
  
“They’ll make a Coulson out of you, yet.” Bruce teased.  
  
“I guess I could live with that.” She mused, thinking of the endless coffee and donuts that went along with the job.  
  
“What do you _want_ to live with?” He asked. Darcy was quiet.  
  
“I hadn’t thought about it, you know? I mean, no one thinks they’re going to be a superhero baby sitter or work for the actual men in black, or,” She leaned back and looked up to Bruce as they slowly rocked back and forth. “Become a little greener or meaner. Or a super scientist who saves the world. But I like all this. It’s scary, frustrating, but it’s fun and exciting and I meet new people and experience new things. Who needs safety and office hours, anyways?” She grinned. “What do _you_ want, Bruce?”  
  
Bruce smiled, breathing in deeply as he looked down to her. “I didn’t know I had a choice.”  
  
“Everyone does.” Darcy quietly urged and watched the fact register across his face. It was slow at first, the realization of freedom. Bruce might not have it with work, or personal life, but he could find some here, with Darcy. As his smile widened, she watched the wonderment move across his face quickly.  
  
They were interrupted as the music ended and a rallying cry for unmarried women to gather around Betty to catch her bouquet. Darcy paused and watched as Jane ran after the huddled masses of women.  
  
“You’re not going with them?” Bruce asked, lowering his hands to his sides. Darcy pouted her lips in thought before shaking her head.  
  
“Why do I need to catch a bunch of flowers for the universe to tell me that it’s time for something? _Marriage_? Maybe if it was a lifetime pass to a theme park or a ton of caffeine, or beta-tester for Stark Industries R  & D....Nah. If I want something, I’m going to go after it. I don’t need for something mystical to just be bestowed on me. What?” Darcy laughed, looking up at Bruce, who stared back at her intently. “You’re giving me the crazy eyes.”  
  
Bruce laughed and looked left and right before slowly wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in. Darcy could feel the strength in his body, as his arms almost swept her off her feet. She let out a small laugh in surprise as her hands came to rest on his chest. She could feel his fingers spread apart as his hands carefully grasped her waist, as if covering the space in which he held her could further show his deep adoration. He slowly closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers. He drew in a shaky breath, the sound of his unsteady hum filling the small space between them. Darcy closed her eyes, and let everything wonderful and fragile and strong and cautionary and passionate about Bruce in to her mind.  
  
“Can I kiss you?” He whispered, his hands coming to rest on her cheeks, cradling her in his hands as they slowly rocked back and forth. Bruce spoke of her as gravity, but now she was falling into his.  
  
Darcy slowly opened her eyes at the same time as Bruce opened his, and she could feel her breathing become heavier as she got lost in his passionate gaze.  
  
“C’mere, you.” Darcy smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning up to finally press her lips to his. She tried not to smile into it, but Bruce did anyways, and they were left chuckling as they exchanged small kisses. She liked the way that his lips fell against hers in just the right way. She liked how gently Bruce kissed, but how he could match her passion as the kiss deepened. They were both truly swept up in each other as the kiss became all consummately passionate.  
  
Somewhere between the kisses, the heaving breathing, and the small laughs that they shared, Darcy heard Jane shriek and yell in surprise. As Darcy lingered at the edge of Bruce’s lips, kissing him again and again with dizzying magnetism, she heard Jane running up to them.  
  
“I caught the bouquet, can you believe it, I caught the bouquet and Thor said wouldn’t it be great if I could be the queen of Asgard, and--”  
  
“Why do you run after my proposal, Jane--” Thor called behind her, panting out of breath as he stopped in his tracks beside Jane. The two paused as they watched Darcy and Bruce swept away in an embrace. A response came from neither until Darcy held out a thumbs up before shooing them away.  
  
“Girl finally got some.” Jane said with satisfaction teeming in her voice. She turned to Thor and took his hand in hers. “And of course I’ll marry you. Let’s get out of here and leave these two alone.” She smiled before leading Thor away to let Darcy and Bruce continue. And they did continue, without interruption from government agents, terrorists, or inner demons, and they continued with a feeling of closure, peace, and happiness.  
  
And as Darcy would say later, it was really freaking awesome.

**The End**

**  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End. *screams*  
> I hope you enjoyed it. I feel proud of myself and satisfied, so I hope you do too.  
> There /may/ be a sequel in the future, but for next month I am totally busy!  
> Anyways, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! for taking this journey with me. It's only been a few months since I began writing, and this was a huge step into it.  
> ^_^

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first multi-chapter fic, and only my second Bruce/Darcy writing, so I want to thank several people for helping me out on this. Thank you Snape, Spanky, Shannon (omg I have too many friends with S-names, GET OUT), forgerofdreams, and Koaryn, my beta reader. Thank you Sarcastic_Fina and UsedKarma/FuckYeahDarcyLewis for the fic rec :))
> 
> This is a huge leap in writing for me, so I would definitely appreciate the feedback.
> 
> http://tinyurl.com/bp66lu6 I made a gif set. None of the gifs belong to me~.
> 
> http://bit.ly/OEZQGy this is the banner for the story, made by UsedKarma of Tumblr. Thanks Ophelie! :D
> 
> Your Heart is An Empty Room is a song title by Death Cab for Cutie. I used the title because part of the song and the title itself represents major themes in the story.


End file.
